LD 



Ilff 
Itlkll 



2.G5/ 




••-" 





ATiL 









y ^ 



& 



Reminiscences of 
Juniata College 



Reminiscences of 
Juniata College 



QUARTER CENTURY 
i 87 6- 1 go 1 



BY 

DAVID EMMERT 

Instructor in Art and Natural Sciences 



HUNTINGDON, PA. 

ILLUSTRATED & PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 

I90I 



LUztsi 



02\m 



t@ount pleasant printer? 

J. Horace McFarland Company 
Harrisburg • Pennsylvania 



d 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introductory i 

An Apology 5 

The Beginning 9 

First Impressions . (fj^ 

The School 20 

A Proposition of Consolidation 26 

Club Life 31 

The German Professor 38 

Under the Scourge 43 

The Refugees . - 47 

An Enforced Vacation 53 

Life of the Exiles 57 

The Forge Country . . . . ■ . . . . , 63 

Beginning Life on the Hill 73 

Eventful Days • • 77 

The Shadow of Death 80 

The Memorial Service and after .... 84 

Anniversary Address of Professor Zuck ... 89 

Some Good Work 98 

Enlarging the Borders 102 

The First Educational Movements .... 108 

The Men Who Made "Juniata" 113 

Teachers of the Earlier Period . . . . . 129 

Some Friends and Helpers 138 

Juniata of the Later Day — 

Buildings and Equipments 148 

Measures and Men 154 

The Mountains round about 165 

Huntingdon 176 

An After Word , , ,182 

vii 




INTRODUCTORY 

THE world admires the young man 
who, under adverse circumstances, 
struggles up from obscurity to win 
the laurels of success. 

The penniless boy with pluck and deter- 
mination has a large mortgage upon the 
sympathies of the public. Men applaud 
and admire heroic deeds which they never 
would have had the courage to perform. 
Oratory swells with the praises of the men 
who have split rails, tanned hides, and 
driven mules on the tow-path, on the way 
to the White House ; but thousands who 
never attained eminence have done the same 
things with as much courage and faith- 
fulness. 

The deeds of a man's life become sig- 
nificant only after he has won his crown. 



2 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Self-sacrifice has no virtue except it be for 
a worthy purpose, and no effort, at what- 
ever cost it may be made, can lay claim to 
success unless it embody principles and 
ideals which shall lead on perpetually to 
the development of the highest things of 
which human life is capable. 

It is sometimes said of people that "they 
builded better than they knew." They may 
have builded better than the world knew or 
believed, but every honest workman knows 
when he has done his best. The deep 
secret of success is seldom known or 
sought for until an individual or an in- 
stitution develops some distinctive claim 
to recognition. An institution is fortunate 
that has a history. If that history harmo- 
nizes with the purpose of those who come 
under its influence it may be a positive 
inspiration. The duty of presenting the 
facts becomes apparent when the life of 
the mother may be magnified in the life 
of the children. 

Every institution has its origin some- 
where, sometime, for some purpose; if it 
prove worthy it will win patronage. If it be 



INTRODUCTORY 3 

an educational institution, students will come 
and students will go, with fluctuations of 
loyalty and enthusiasm, but with no further 
claim upon their affections than springs 
from the social life of the place, unless the 




ON COLLEGE CAMPUS 

character-forming influences have their root 
in a strong personality. 

Concerning an institution we have in 
mind, little secrets are constantly leaking 
out which account for success in the face 
of adverse circumstances. As they sit un- 
der the broad bower of their educational 



4 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

roof-tree, some of the students of to-day 
may be interested enough to inquire of its 
early history. Some may know when the 
seed was sown ; some may have learned of 
the early frost that cut off all hope of life 
for a time, the subsequent sprouting and 
growth, the later storm-twisting stages and 
the pruning and lopping of branches until 
the heart -root struck deep and the roof- 
tree budded, blossomed, and spread its 
arms, to our supreme delight. 



AN APOLOGY 




AM asked to recount some 
memories of the early days 
of Juniata. In doing so I 
may have to be more per- 
sonal than I naturally care 
to be. 

To establish my right to assume the role 
of historian and autobiographer it may, first 
of all, be expected that I show my relation 
to the characters and events of the earliest 
days. 

For a year or two before the institution 
was founded, I was pleasantly associated 
with the founder, Professor Zuck, while he 
taught in the high school and I worked in 
the machine shops at Waynesboro, Pa. I 
there learned that we both traced our line 
of ancestry to the same great family tree. 
But blood relationship had nothing to do 
with bringing us together in the work to 
which he gave his life. It was interest in 
a common cause. 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



The secret of my interest in a school for 
the church, I here confess. It had its spring 
in the premature death of a dear brother, 
"my guiding star," a victim of over -study 
and the hard routine of college life. I 
shared in his disappointment at the failure 
of a promising educational 
enterprise. And when his 
health and vigor suddenly 
declined and the school 
dispersed, education was at 
^Ai ,><k a discount in our family. 

Rk ^m ^° we wenti l° vers °f art 
and things intellectual, to 
seek solace in the tilling 
of the soil, or the bustle 

"BROTHER" , . , c 

and busy racket ot an 
industrial establishment. 

A few months later I was summoned 
home to look upon his face for the last 
time and take from his dying lips, in 
broken sentences, his confession and sad 
expression of regret that all his educa- 
tional advantages had to be sought for 
outside the influence of the church to 
which his heart inclined. I there resolved 




AN APOLOGY 7 

that, be it much or little, should the oppor- 
tunity ever come, I would add my "mite" 
to the establishment of an educational home 
for the children of the people under whose 
simple religious faith we were reared. 

Late in July, 1876, at the close of his 
first "experimental" term in the new school 
enterprise at Huntingdon, Professor Zuck 
surprised me in tjie midst of the repair of 
an old threshing machine which nobody 
else about the establishment would touch. 
I was black as an Ethiopian and could not 
understand whether the apparent mirth of 
the Professor sprang so much from the joy 
of seeing me or of witnessing my predica- 
ment. I ventured to explain that this was 
not my work. For was not I a full-fledged 
"pattern-maker" — a sort of aristocrat so 
far as trades and classes of workmen go? 
He eased my agitation, if I showed any, 
by the commendatory expression, "What- 
soever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy 
might." 

We talked school and discussed probable 
future relations. We parted. In less than 
three weeks from that date new duties were 



8 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

thrust upon me by the sudden death of my 
father, and it was not until the autumn of 
1877 that I was permitted to join the noble 
band of workers at Huntingdon. What 
I may record from the opening of the 
school until my coming (a little over a 
year) I have by tradition. What I shall 
record after that, to me, eventful date shall 
be associated with my own experience. 

If this record of incidents and experi- 
ences grave and comical, joyful and sad, 
shall lead any one to understand better the 
motives and principles upon which Juniata, 
as it stands to-day, was founded, and the 
spirit in which it has gone forward, the 
misgivings with which the author of these 
sketches approaches his task will be atoned 
for, and the labor amply compensated. 



THE BEGINNING 




A 1 



PROF. J. M. ZUCK 



PRIL 17, 1876, in 
a small room in 
the second story 

of the "Pilgrim 



build 



ing 



with 



three students,* 
Prof. J. M. Zuck 
began what is now 
Juniata College, 
but then "The 
ml Huntingdon Nor- 
mal School." Dis- 
couraging as it 
must have been to 
greet so few on 
that first morning, 
we may be assured 
that the opening 
was no less devotional and the work of the 
day no less conscientiously done than if 
a score or more had gathered. 

*Miss Maggie Miller (Mrs. Campbell), Miss Rebecca Cornelius (Mrs. T- 
Wilday Black), Mr. Gains Brumbaugh (M.D.). 



io JUNIATA COLLEGE 

The surroundings were in keeping with 
the humble spirit of the founder. The 
little room, 12 x 16 feet, with two windows 
on the south, through which the soft light 
sifted in under the leaves of tall maples 
that stood close on the outside; a long 
pine table in the center, with three chairs 
around it (there were probably more on 
that first morning in anticipation of a 
larger attendance); plain pine shelves, 
holding the modest but well - selected 
library of the teacher; at the far end of 
the room, and close by it his table with 
checkered cover and large glass inkstand; 
above these, on the wall, a map of the 
world; a round-backed arm-chair with a 
deerskin thrown over the back and seat, 
and a long blackboard on stilts leaning 
against the wall, completed the general 
furnishing. There must have been a stove 
somewhere, for April 17 in this latitude chilly 
blasts still creep down the mountain side. 

Into this little compartment, morning by 
morning, gathered the band of earnest 
workers, slowly increasing, — now one and 
another was added as the skill of the 



12 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

teacher became known. By the end of 
the session a dozen or more were crowd- 
ing around the long pine table and "the 
star of hope" was rising. 

A description of the room and its 
equipments would be entirely incomplete 
without a glance at the teacher — of me- 
dium height, delicate and slender figure, 
limping gait, quiet demeanor, thoughtful 
look, lustrous dark brown eyes, dark hair 
and beard, somewhat sober expression ; 
smiles, however, had a running course 
around his lips and mirth held him to her 
gentlest touch. Wrong -doing never re- 
ceived sterner rebuke than his deepest 
frown, nor right a brighter commendation 
than the flash of his beaming eye. The spirit 
of the teacher was born in him, and his early 
misfortune schooled him to the profession 
to which nature had already fitted him. 

Encouraged by his first effort, and with 
a firm faith in the final success of the 
enterprise, Professor Zuck labored with 
voice and pen through his summer vacation 
to find his reward in a promising opening 
of the Fall term. An additional room was 



THE BEGINNING 



pressed into service, and by the beginning 
of the Winter term more extensive accom- 
modations had to be found. The large 
brick mansard -roofed house known as 
the Burchinell Building, 1224 Washington 
street, was occupied in February, 1877. 
Here, in large and beautifully lighted rooms, 
the school blossomed forth and began to 
put on the airs of a real institution. 
Here, too, thus early were to be found 
students from 
Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, West Vir- 
ginia, Ohio, In- 
diana, Missouri, 
and Pennsylvania. 
Each morning 
the little band re- 
viewed itself and 
noted its increas- 
ing numbers as it 
marched back to 
the little Chapel in the Pilgrim Building, a 
block away, for religious exercises. 

The Spring term opened with enlarged 
attendance. The duties had already in- 




" PILGRIM" BUILDING 



14 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

creased beyond the capacity and strength 
of one frail man. Professor Zuck found 
in his former classmate, Miss Phebe W. 
Weakley, a valuable assistant, and the reg- 
ular school year closed with enthusiasm. 
A teachers' session was again conducted 
through the summer for a period of 
six weeks. During this term, Prof. J. 
H. Brumbaugh, a native of Huntingdon 
county, and a graduate of Millersville State 
Normal School, became the strong right 
arm of Professor Zuck. The Summer ses- 
sion added much to the reputation of the 
school at home and may be regarded as 
one of the turning points in its develop- 
ment. It showed distinctively the influence 
such an institution was capable of wield- 
ing in the community and demonstrated 
the purpose and energy of those who were 
engaged in its establishment. 

The Fall term of 1877 opened with two 
new departments, — Music and Art, — and 
an attendance showing a large percentage 
of increase. Everything bade fair for suc- 
cess, and there was talk of a new building 
somewhere on the hills. 




FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

MY first impressions of Huntingdon 
and the school were, likely, not 
very different from those of hun- 
dreds who came later. 

All the morning the fog hung low along 
the mountain tops as we sped on over the 
Broad Top railroad from Cumberland, 
Maryland. My spirit was in much the 
same melancholy mood, and the soft patter 
of an occasional shower may honestly have 
had its counterpart in the dewy dampness 
of my own eyes, for I was going out into 
a new and untried field, with the future a 
blank. When the train whistled and we 
dashed through the cut beyond the river, 
and the town with its tall steeples, and the 
great barren hills (one crowned with the 
white monuments of a cemetery), all en- 



15 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



veloped in a soft mysterious haze, burst 
upon our view, I wished in my heart of 
hearts that I had never heard the name of 
Huntingdon. I was, to tell the truth, home- 
sick already. I stepped from the train, but 
found no reception commit- 
tee awaiting me. I arranged 
with the cabman for my 
transfer to a certain school, 
fe of which he seemed to have 
some knowledge. He set me 
down at the door of a board- 
ing house, where the cordial 
greeting of Professor Zuck and a good din- 
ner made me feel at home immediately. 

What a town ! Alba longa (long white 
town); better nigra longa (long black town). 
For West Huntingdon stretched for a mile 
or more over a broad plateau and looked 
as if it had been in the full swell of a great 





NRT. 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS 



17 



boom sometime and had been stranded 
by the subsidence of the tide. Here were 
vacant lots innumerable, with fences and 
without, sign-boards everywhere: "This lot 

for Sale. Apply to "; empty houses 

many, and board-walks abominable. The 
streets were unpaved and muddy. The tall 
stacks of silent fac- 
tories told the story 
of industrial decline. 
Here and there were 
a few centers of ac- 
tivity. One of these 
was the Pilgrim , 
later the Primitive 
Christian office. 
The older part of 
the town was somewhat more improved, 
but in many places the pavements were 
laid with flat stones. There was no sewer- 
age system and the streets were lighted, 
when at all, by coal -oil lamps. 

One of the subjects of the closing exer- 
cises of the preceding Spring term I had 
observed was, "Huntingdon as a Desirable 
Location for an Educational Institution." I 




18 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

began to wonder what a speaker could find 
to say on the subject. The people of the 
town were very cordial, but one was inclined 
to question whether they welcomed him for 
the good they had to give him or because 
"misery loves company." I soon learned, 
however, that the good will was of the 
most genuine sort and felt at home among 
the people. Then I began to lift up my 
head, and when the mists had cleared away 
what a revelation ! Here were the delec- 
table mountains. Mountains such as I had 
never before taken time to study and ad- 
mire, ridges and ranges and peaks — an 
endless panorama of beauty and loveliness. 
Then, when the morning sun broke over 
the eastern hills with a near horizon, the 
golden light deluged the sky and turned 
every fleeting cloud to flame. The sun- 
sets were no less intense, but softer and 
more varied. In the lowlands I had never 
known such color. The distant mountain 
masses turned to deepest purple, and the 
nearer to pearly ash, with a golden glamour 
over all. I could now understand why peo- 
ple loved this land and why a quiet content 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS 



19 



seemed to rest upon them. This was at 
last the environment my nature longed for, 
and I was thoroughly at home. Dilapi- 
dated houses, broken pavements and all 
else sank from sight. My realm of beauty 
was beyond, and these hills have never 
lost their charm. Twenty-five years have 
brought to few towns, outside of boom 
centers, greater changes than to Hunting- 
don. Much of its quaint picturesqueness 
is gone. The old canal with the old locks, 
the wharves and the queer warehouses, Cot- 
tage Grove, and the wooded banks of the 
race and river are things of the past, but 
these old-time scenes added not a little to 
the attractiveness of the place in early days. 




THE SCHOOL 

OF the school, there did not at first 
sight appear to be much visible evi- 
dence. The students boarded in pri- 
vate families. A few boarded themselves, 
cooked in the kitchen of the school build- 
ing and roomed on the third floor. Here 
also Professor Zuck had his private apart- 
ment, while he took his meals at a boarding 
house near by. It was arranged (and quite 
agreeably to myself) that I should share 
this apartment and take my meals in the 
same way. So we began housekeeping to- 
gether on bare floors in a room with a 
one-hooded dormer window. We put down 
a cheap carpet later, and that improved the 
home feeling. 

It soon became evident that Professor 
Zuck was under great financial strain to 
equip the school, pay his teachers (small 
as were their salaries), add to the library 
and supply apparatus as necessity demanded. 
As a matter of economy and in the spirit 



THE SCHOOL 



of the truest self-sacrifice, he proposed to 
me that I continue to take my meals at 
the boarding house according to contract, 
and that he would join the club to reduce 
personal expenses. I replied promptly to 
this, "Whither thou goest, I will go. What 
is good enough for you is good enough 
for me." And so 
we made appli- 
cation to the 
"Club," which 
Club became a 
by-word in the 
school and sug- 
gests some of the 
most pathetic 
history of the 
early struggle. 

Everything 
seemed to call 
for united effort 
of hands and 
hearts. There 
was a feeling of intensity emanating from 
some source — I cannot even now define it — 
which united the whole band of students and 




BURCHINELL HOUSE 

1224 Washington Street 



22 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

teachers in a common cause. I remember 
my first Saturday, and some later ones, were 
devoted to making a large center-table for 
the library (a very convenient and necessary 
article of furniture it afterwards proved to 
be). Others did one thing and another, 
even service the most menial, and no one 
ever thought of extra pay. 

When the school gathered for the open- 
ing, September, 1877, and about sixty boys 
and girls tripped into the apparently roomy 
house, it seemed real crowded and the im- 
pression of the "bigness" of the institution 
grew. 

There was a snap and vim about the 
work that enlisted one's enthusiasm at once. 
The Principal was a close, hard worker and 
an accomplished organizer. Every one was 
put on his mettle to do his best. A com- 
mon saying in chapel talks was, "We want 
no drones in this educational hive. If you 
do not care to work, save your money and 
go home; your places will be better filled 
by more worthy ones," etc. This policy has 
been adhered to down to the present day. 
No one has ever been able to purchase a 



THE SCHOOL 23 

"loafing place" in Juniata for money. It 
is "work or go." 

From the beginning, literary discipline 
was made a strong feature of the school. 
Professor Zuck was eminently practical 
and aimed to bring out the best in the 
individual. There were literary sections in 
regular class work, and special literary socie- 
ties of students under the oversight of 
the teachers. Some may recall the "Irv- 
ing," "Bryant," and Ben Bowser's "Eben- 
ezer" club. Then there was the "Eclectic 
Literary Society," which met weekly in 
the little Chapel. The membership was 
composed of students, teachers and citi- 
zens of the town. The programs consisted 
usually of orations, essays, declamations, 
debates, and a paper. The spirit of the 
early sessions of that society has never 
been surpassed in its later history. The 
old "Eclectic Literary Society" will be 
remembered by many as the gymnasium in 
which they developed the intellectual fiber 
for their later successful work. The ladies 
tell a story about the organization of this 
society which is deserving of note. The 



24 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

call for a preliminary meeting to organize 
a literary society was made early in the 
first term of the school. To this meeting 
the ladies were not invited. Their curi- 
osity got the better of them, however, and 
they gathered in the little hall at the back 
of the Chapel where the meeting was be- 
ing held and listened through the key- 
hole. There must have been somewhere 
in the preamble or resolutions a clause 
admitting, or at least not excluding them, 
for at the first regular meeting they were 
present, and proved their ability and ear- 
nestness by their active interest from that 
time on. 

The Eclectic Society now survives in the 
two active societies of the school, the Wah- 
neeta and the Oriental, both of which may 
well emulate their mother. 

Another impressive feature of the school 
at the time — although attendance was vol- 
untary — was the Sunday afternoon Bible 
class. In a very simple and plain way, 
Professor Zuck conducted the study. His 
applications were pointed and impressive, 
and his ability to set the student think- 



THE SCHOOL 25 

ing and to draw out an expression of his 
thought was a matter of remark. Always, 
at the opening or close of the class, a 
short essay or two was read on some 
subject pertinent to the lesson, showing 
the constant purpose of the teacher to en- 
courage definite and intense thought and 
to develop literary ability as well. 

I may conclude that, notwithstanding the 
gloomy outlook upon my arrival, my first 
impressions of the school quite exceeded 
my expectations. 



A PROPOSITION OF 
CONSOLIDATION 

THE Fall term of 1877 progressed 
with promise of encouraging results. 
The enthusiasm of teachers and pu- 
pils afforded a fair test of the permanency 
of the work. There was a buoyant feeling 
of hope among the students and a deep 
sense of responsibility among the founders 
and friends of the school. It was a kind 
of dream period of the "what is to be." 
It was evident that the school had come 
to stay and ere long it would have to be 
provided with a permanent home. There 
was a quiet search for sites, and plans were 
suggested for a building when as yet there 
was not a dollar in the treasury. Even thus 
early there seemed, at home and abroad, an 
impression that this movement was destined 
to succeed, and when the educational enthu- 
siasm was suddenly aroused in other parts, 
the question of the effect of rivalry and 
the bare possibility of survival under com- 
26 



PROPOSITION OF CONSOLIDATION 27 

petition became serious. The proposition 
of consolidation with a school enterprise 
having promise of large financial support, 
but lacking a practical test, brought a pause 
in all building plans for a time. 

Then came "an ambassador'" from the 
land of the setting sun — a man of enthu- 
siastic spirit, good address, and wonderful 
persuasive power. He told of the great 
scheme to establish a college of the first 
rank; of their purposes to equip and en- 
dow and professor it, and start it a boom- 
ing success at once. Why struggle through 
the long, trying period of experimental de- 
velopment? Professor Zuck was inclined 
to the scriptural suggestion, and the nat- 
ural order of growth, "First the blade, then 
the ear, and then the full corn in the ear." 
When the fair pictures and promises 
seemed to fail of effect, the said "ambas- 
sador" became somewhat impatient and 
said, in a not too brotherly way, "Well, 
if you do not unite with us you will be 
swallowed up." So he departed, leaving, 
for a time, a shadow of gloom and uncer- 
tainty behind him. 



28 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



The confidential talks of Professor Zuck 
indicated the fear he felt of strong com- 
petition and the wavering faith he held in 
the possibility of raising the necessary funds 
in the east. One evening, shortly after this 
event, as the shadows of twilight were deep- 
ening into night, I found him sitting alone 
in a recitation-room in a most melancholy 
mood, in one hand lightly holding his cane, 
with the other gently stroking his brow — 
a familiar attitude when in deep thought. 
Our conversation turned at once upon the 
question of consolidation. Then I thought 
of an illustration — an incident from life — 
and for his comfort told the story. 

"Far down where the historic Antietam, 
leaving the broad, fertile meadows, sweeps 
in a short curve around a rocky bluff, long 
years ago an honest 
- weaver bui] 




PROPOSITION OF CONSOLIDATION 29 



mill. The site, lonely and even hard of 
access, was chosen because of the ease 
with which he could construct a dam at 
that point and convert the quiet flow of 
the stream into power. From all the coun- 
try round about came the fleeces of many 
flocks. The business prospered and the 
little mill bearing the name of its owner 
became a household word in the 
community. A few miles down 
the creek a great stone dam was 
built, for industries now declin- 
ing. Its slack water reached back 
nearly to the little woollen mill. 
This dam was a wealth of power 
for manufacturing purposes. 
Then some one bethought him 
of the little weaver up the stream. His 
quiet industry had borne fruit and was at 
once the suggestion of a great enterprise, 
so there was laid the foundation of an 
extensive woollen mill. Upon it grew a 
many-storied structure ; on the top of the 
tall tower, serving the double purpose of 
weather-vane and emblem of trade, was the 
gilded figure of a lamb. Thousands of 




30 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

dollars were staked upon the enterprise 
and the whole community dreamed but of 
its success. The finest machinery was set, 
the offices were well furnished, and even a 
great watch-dog was chained to his kennel 
near the door. 'But they couldn't get the 
wool. The capital was exhausted. The 
bubble burst, and the tall building stands 
a silent monument to somebody's impracti- 
cable idea." The Professor keenly appre- 
ciated the moral — It takes more than 
bricks and mortar to make a school. "We 
will be sure of the wool before we build 
the factory," said he, and, breaking into 
one of his convulsive fits of half - sup- 
pressed laughter, the clouds of despondency 
suddenly lifted for the night and I never 
heard him speak of consolidation again. 




CLUB LIFE 

THE experiences of the few boys and 
girls who, for purely economical 
reasons, had formed a boarding 
club were both pathetic and ludi- 
crous. The club! There were 
really two clubs — one of two boys and 
two girls, and the other of one lone boy. 
They all cooked on the same stove and 
ate at the same table. 

One evening just before Professor Zuck 
and I joined their number I peeped in, all 
unobserved, at the window of the little 
back kitchen. It was supper time, and the 
five were seated around a plain table with- 
out cover. The odor of potato soup, with 
a faint suggestion that it was scorched, 
came through the window. What else they 
had would be easy to enumerate. At the 
far side of the table sat a little white-headed 
boy eating something out of a tin cup. 
This remark, from him, I overheard: "Say, 
Ben, if you will give me some of your po- 

3 1 



32 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

tato soup I will give you some of my oat- 
meal." "Done!" said Ben; and right there 
was transacted the most primitive order of 
commerce — "barter." They called it "swap- 
ping." The seriousness of the transaction 
and its further suggestiveness was too much 
for me, and I made my presence known 
by a hearty laugh, in which they all joined. 
The very simplicity of their life and their 
heroic fortitude excited my sympathy and 
admiration, and I was the more anxious to 
be one of their number. 

A few days later a longer table was 
spread in the downstairs study room and 
seven sat down together, with Professor 
Zuck at the head. This increase in num- 
bers necessitated some organization. Ben 
was elected steward ; Levi, janitor, and the 
girls were to do the cooking as their con- 
tribution to general sustenance. 

The pro rata weekly assessment was very 
low. The diet was simple, and after a few 
weeks became a little monotonous. Occa- 
sionally there was meat. Molasses was al- 
ways abundantly plenty, but the one stand- 
ard dish for supper was a sort of potato 



CLUB LIFE 



33 



soup. The girls would put the potatoes 
on, about the beginning of the last period 
of the day, and go to class. On their 
return it was the work of a few moments 




THE SEVEN ORPHANS AND ONE MORE 

to dress them with milk and serve. Invari- 
ably the soup was scorched. The taste we 
got used to, but even yet, when in a rem- 
iniscent mood on those early days, the odor 
of burnt potato soup comes back as a prod- 
uct of the imagination to accent the inci- 
dents that made those days memorable, 



34 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

The club came to be a jolly band. Mirth 
was the sauce of every meal, and what was 
lacking in variety and quantity was more 
than made up by good appetites. Some 
one dubbed us "The Seven Orphans, 1 ' and 
the name clung to us long after the club 
had doubled its numbers. By common 
consent, there was to be no supper on 
Sunday evenings. The Sunday dinners not 
being so elaborate as some of us were used 
to at home, we could not quite accommo- 
date ourselves to this order of abstinence, 
so we would sneak off to the cellar, and 
there, in that damp place, standing on 
boards and planks, we ate many a good 
lunch of apple-butter bread, and cold cab- 
bage. The friends of one of the Ohio 
boys sent him a barrel of delicious apple- 
butter, and while it lasted we "lived high." 
For weeks the diet was plain and simple, 
and as Thanksgiving came on there was 
more or less discussion as to how we should 
celebrate the day. It was agreed that we 
should have a turkey, and to this end the 
steward was instructed. 

For days we had seen men marching by 



CLUB LIFE 



35 



with guns on their shoulders, going towards 
the hills. To us of the lowlands and prai- 
ries it was a new thing to hear of "turkey 
hunting." Some had never seen a wild tur- 
key. Now here we were right in the tur- 
key country. All along the ridges 
— Warrior, Piney, and Tussey's 
Mountain, and the cliffs beyond 
the river — we could hear the 
"bang," "bang" of the guns. It 
reminded me of war times when 
the picket lines were close and 
the forces were marshaling for a 
battle. The hunters usually came 
in after dark, so we saw little of 
the game and despaired of getting 
a turkey at any price. 

It seemed almost providential that the 
day before Thanksgiving a man with a 
rickety team drove up to our door and 
offered for sale, at a reasonable figure, a 
fine young wild turkey hen. The steward 
"dickered" with him on prices, while the 
rest of us, intensely interested in the trans- 
action, peeped through the blinds on the 
inside. As Ben paid him the money and 




36 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



triumphantly bore away the coveted game, 
the man called after him, "You'll never 
regret that you bought that turkey!" and 
neither did we. The girls assumed to pre- 
i pare it in a way quite new to us. 

y^ Having in mind, no doubt, the 
II methods of doing up a patriarch 
of the flock at home, they 
proceeded in the same 
way with this dainty 
young bird of the forest. 
They put it into a pot to 
boil to tenderness, with the in- 
tention of roasting it in the oven 
afterwards. They cooked it, as they sup- 
posed, the required length of time, and when 
they came to lift it there was a dilemma. 
It was almost ready to save the carver all 
further trouble. They called for help, and 
four persons with forks did succeed in 
getting it into the pan in some semblance 
to a typical roast. They applied the fill- 
ing and thrust it into the oven to brown. 
When the dinner bell rang our appetites 
were sharpened to the most delicate keen- 
ness, for the hour was late. Of cranberries 




CLUB LIFE 37 

and celery there were none, but the turkey 
was delicious, and the carver was spared 
the embarrassment of struggling to find 
the joints, for it literally fell to pieces. 

To say that we enjoyed that Thanks- 
giving dinner as few others before or since 
is simple truth. There were no fragments 
left over for a stew next day. The reflec- 
tion that intrudes itself is — the simple inci- 
dents that attend privation, self-denial", and 
even pain, rivet some of the happiest mem- 
ories of the fading years. 

Note. — The members of the original club were: Miss Mary Bowlby, W.Va. ; 
Miss Hannah Cassel, Pa. ; B. F. Bowser and Levi Stoner, Ohio; Joseph Wells, 
Pa. Later were added Professor Zuck and the writer. William Beery, the 
"one more," came at the opening of the winter term, 1878. 



THE GERMAN PROFESSOR 



AS indicating the development of the 
l school, early in the fall of 1877 
there came a pressing demand for 
German. Professor Zuck cast about to 
find a German teacher. His limited means 
precluded a specialist. After some weeks 
of patient inquiry he incidentally learned of 
a native German, an accomplished scholar 
by reputation, who was stopping tempor- 
arily among the farmers in the valley a few 
miles out. The Professor was in- 
vited to present himself with a 
view to an engagement. On a 
certain day he came. All horror 
— a tramp! Hair and beard un- 
kempt, slouched and greasy hat, 
shabby and dirty clothes, pants 
tucked into his cowhide boots and 
a faded carpet-sack grip under his 
arm. The students stood aghast, 
and even Professor Zuck looked 
"sold." A private talk revealed 

38 




HOW HE CAME 



THE GERMAN PROFESSOR 39 

the fact that he was not only an accom- 
plished German scholar, but classical as 
well. He was regarded as a sort of uncut 
diamond, and we set about with 
a good will to polish him. Pro- 
fessor Zuck bought him a new 
suit of clothes and a pair of 
shoes; I gave him a shirt, and 
one of the boys contributed a 
hat. I think the barber, too, ex- 
ercised his art upon his shock 
and bristles, and we initiated him 
into the luxuries of the bath. 
When he appeared again there 
was a wonderful transformation. 
He even seemed to have a dainty 
and more dudish step, and we all took a 
real pride in the way in which he was 
brought out and the evident satisfaction he 
felt in his new attire. He was added to the 
"club" and given a seat at Professor Zuck's 
right hand, an honor which we did not 
know he esteemed so highly until by ac- 
cident or otherwise some one else slipped 
into his place, and he was moved down a 
notch. He regarded this "demotion" as a 




HOW HE WAS 



40 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

real insult or an attempt to humiliate him, 
and expressed his feelings in vigorous lan- 
guage. He was soothed by being returned 
to his coveted place. 

A couple of weeks went by and we 
noticed a peculiar sullenness in the old 
Professor from time to time. Some of the 
boys were mean enough to suggest that he 
was getting "dry." To furnish beer, how- 
ever, was not a part of the contract. The 
girls of the German class, about the same 
time, were observed to show a particular 
distress of countenance, and their eyes indi- 
cated that there was grief somewhere deep 
enough for tears. Then we heard open 
complaints and bold denunciation of "the 
old tyrant," and even worse names were 
given him. There was a kind of indigna- 
tion meeting in the office one day at 
which all the members of the German class 
were present. Professor Zuck heard their 
plaint in his usual quiet way, and the sedate 
Professor of German was summoned into 
his presence. What was said in the brief 
interview none but the two professors ever 
knew. Then the office door suddenly flew 



THE GERMAN PROFESSOR 



open, and out came the German professor 
like a thunderbolt. The students rushed 
aside; up the stairs he went, three steps at 
a bound; I followed to see what would 
happen. What a scene ! The old man 
was in a rage. He threw off his shoes and 
banged them into a corner; he threw coat 
and vest and hat all over the room, and, 
without taking time to unbutton his shirt, 
he seized it at the collar band, ripped it 
up the back, and sent it whirling like a 
flag of truce across the bed. I 
got out and hastened down stairs 
to warn those below to clear the 
track for what was coming. 
In a few minutes he appeared 
clad in his old duds, and, with 
a jabber nobody could under- 
stand, and gesticulations which 
sent terror to the hearts of the 
timid ones, he rushed down 
the street and disappeared 
from view forever. Professor 
Zuck was convulsed with laughter, the boys 
were hilarious, the girls clapped their hands 
and hallooed, "Good-bye!" — "Good, good!" 




HOW HE WENT 



4.2 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

"We're glad he's gone," was the universal 
acclaim of the students. 

The first period of the afternoon was 
broken, but the school settled down to 
business, and the chair of German was 
for the time declared vacant. 



UNDER THE SCOURGE 

THE coming of the Christmas holi- 
days sent many of the students to 
their homes — nearly all, however, with 
the determination to return. For some 
weeks previous, what was thought to be 
chicken-pox prevailed as an epidemic in the 
town. The unusual violence of the disease 
awakened a suspicion that it might be small- 
pox in mild form. The first case occurred 
next door to the school. The little con- 
valescent, peering from the window with 
flushed and pitted face as we passed, excited 
some fear at first; but with her recovery 
little more was thought of the trouble. 
During Christmas week the disease assumed 
a more violent form, and the community 
suddenly realized that they had a genuine 
epidemic of smallpox on hand. The report 
did not reach many of the students at their 
homes, and, as the New Year dawned and 
the date of the opening of the winter term 
approached, they came trooping in. On the 

43 



44 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

way some may have caught the words, as I 
did, on the train, — "Smallpox at Hunting- 
don" — and heard the extravagant stories of 
death and quarantine. If anv one yielded 
to the impulse to turn back we did not learn 
of it, but to those of us bearing responsi- 
bility for their care it was a time for courage 
and trust. The sensations natural to one 
set down in a town upon which a blighting 
pestilence had settled can be better imag- 
ined than described. It was not strange to 
see passengers for east and west hurrying 
along with nervous and fidgety glances as 
if expecting to see the ominous red sign 
placarded on every door, or feel the stern 
hand of a quarantine officer upon them. 

A friend awaited my arrival, and by the 
shortest route we reached the school. On 
the way the truth was known. The condi- 
tions were not so bad as rumor had made 
them, but the situation was serious enough. 
Each new arrival increased the concern and 
anxiety of the faculty. Strict orders as to 
diet prevailed and disinfectants were freely 
distributed. The odor of carbolic acid was 
everywhere. "The Club"' issued orders for 



UNDER THE SCOURGE 45 

molasses and sulphur in combination and 
served it three times a day in liberal doses. 

In hope of abatement of the scourge, the 
school started and, for a week, kept up a 
rather disconcerted order of exercises. One 
red sign after another appeared, — above, 
below, beyond, — and a spirit of unrest was 
painfully manifest ; but when the wife of 
one of the students suddenly developed 
symptoms of the disease and died, con- 
sternation fell upon the whole student body 
and it was found no longer wise to attempt 
to continue. 

It was a time of deep gloom. Mrs. 
Kendig was sadly borne away at midnight 
to the cemetery on the hill, followed by 
her husband and a few courageous friends. 
Then a quarantine was set upon the blighted 
home, and the grief- stricken father and 
his motherless babe were held prisoners 
under our eyes. Monday morning dawned 
damp and chilly. The gloom without was 
not greater than the gloom within. The 
remnant of the school gathered in chapel 
at an early hour. It was a sad assembly. 
Before us lay the possible abandonment 



46 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

of the school enterprise. To each was ap- 
parent the personal danger of contracting 
the disease and carrying it to his home. 
The trustful spirit of the parting addresses 
laid the foundation of future revival, and 
when the students dispersed it was with 
assurances that when the danger was passed 
they would return to renew their labors 
and build again their shattered hopes. 



THE REFUGEES 

AFTER all whose homes were within 
l. convenient distance had departed, 
there yet remained a few boys and 
girls from distant states who were unde- 
cided in their purposes. To go home 
meant, probably, never to return. Their 
loyalty and courage kept the spark of 
hope alive and did much to settle plans 
for the future. The girls found homes 
with private families and determined to 
take chances. The boys did not know 
what to do. 

Late in the evening a melancholy group, 
with Professor Zuck as a center, sat in the 
little recitation-room close by the register 
of the base-burning stove below. No one 
was in a hurry to get a light, for the dark- 
ness and gloom suited the mood of our 
minds. Professor Zuck resolved to stand 
by the boys, and I resolved to stand by 
him. There was a quick rap on the door 
and Prof. J. H. Brumbaugh walked in. 

47 



48 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

His breezy spirit instantly revived us. 
When one of the boys brought in the 
lamp there might have been seen a notice- 
able change of expression from that which 
we wore when darkness closed around us 
and our countenances faded from view. 
We even began to joke and to put on, at 
least, a show of merriment. One plan after 
another was proposed. The boys thought 
of going out among the farmers, but the 
farmers were strictly boycotting the town 
and it was not likely that even a dog from 
Huntingdon would be welcomed in their 
midst. More in jest than in earnest some 
one said, ''Boys, let's go to the mountains! 1 ' 
'"There!" said Professor Brumbaugh, ''that 
just suggests something." Then he told 
us of a place far out in a deep mountain 
gorge — ''The Forge" — where there were 
several old houses in fair condition, one of 
them lately occupied by wood-choppers. 

His description of the place and the 
picturesque surroundings excited our im- 
agination, and right there we resolved to 
investigate its merits. Ben was appointed 
"to spy out the land" and the Professor 




ABBOTT'S RUN 
A bit of rugged country 



So JUNIATA COLLEGE 

volunteered to be his guide and escort. 
The next morning they took the train for 
Marklesburg, where they procured horses 
and rode across the country, a distance of 
five miles, into the heart of the mountains. 
Late the same evening they returned. Ben 
was bubbling over with enthusiasm for the 
place. Its wild ruggedness appealed to his 
nature-loving soul and his arguments were 
irresistible. Then there was a bustle to get 
ready. We decided to have Professor Zuck 
go to his home. The three boys were to 
start next morning. I was to follow later 
in the week, after seeing Professor Zuck 
off. 

On my return from the Christmas vaca- 
tion, my mother, out of sympathy for our 
spare living in the "Club," had packed a 
box with sausage, meats, fruits and delica- 
cies. Its size and weight barely admitted it 
to the class of baggage. Its contents were 
practically undisturbed to that date, and I 
turned it in as my first contribution to the 
commissary department of the expedition. 
Then the boys discussed their skill as 
cooks and an estimate was made of the 



THE REFUGEES 51 

quantities of corn meal, hominy and oat-flake 
that would be needed. They were told 
that there was a mill a few miles down 
the river, but the nearest store was five 
miles away. Where they would get milk 
for the oat-flake was not thought of. 

Standing on the platform of the depot 
next morning, might have been seen the 
same three boys, with bundles of bedding 
and boxes of books and provisions, sug- 
gesting a camp of Hungarians on their 
way to a contract. They waved me a 
good-bye from the rear platform of the 
car and bore away my promise to join 
them at an early date. A day or two 
later, remembering their cheerfulness and 
touched by the novelty of living in the 
woods, I wrote them, according to promise, 
to meet me on a certain day and train. I 
put the card in the office and, returning, 
came up the back streets. Here were 
smallpox signs so thick that I felt a sense 
of horror that was unknown before, and 
when I reported my experience to Pro- 
fessor Zuck his arguments were effective 
in convincing me that I had better go 



52 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

home when he did. I went back and took 
my card from the office and wrote the boys 
fully, as if thus to console them in their 
disappointment and condone my apparent 
loss of courage. 




AN ENFORCED VACATION 



LATE in the week Professor Zuck and 
I took a rather sorrowful leave of 
our friends at Huntingdon and set 
our faces homeward. It seemed the only 
thing to do, but we suffered more keenly 
in going than to have settled down and 
taken the risks of remaining in the town. 
My own experiences on reaching home were 
somewhat amusing, and may serve to illus- 
trate the seriousness with which our friends 
regarded the situation. 

When I reached our county town I lithely 
stepped into the office of a friend — a phy- 
sician — not realizing how suspiciously I 
might be regarded as coming from an in- 
fected center. I evidently felt at ease in 
being at a safe distance from the source 
of danger. But the doctor, as I might have 

53 



54 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

readily understood, did not think the same 
way. I imagined he was a little shy, and 
somehow constantly kept the stove between 
us, as we spread our palms about its cheer- 
ful glow. I talked of wind and weather, 
but he quickly turned the conversation to 
smallpox. "You are just from Hunting- 
don," he remarked. "They say hundreds 
of people are down with the disease out 
there and scores are dying!" I assured 
him that there was a great deal of fiction 
in the current newspaper reports, but my 
presence as a "refugee" was ample proof 
of a most serious condition. It was night. 
I expressed a desire to reach my home, 
seven miles distant in the country. "I will 
give you my horse," said the doctor with 
notable promptness and cheerfulness. He 
gave the bell a few vigorous pulls and in 
an incredibly short time the horse was 
prancing at the door. I mounted, and 
paced out of town at a lively gait. I con- 
gratulated myself upon my good fortune, 
and felt extremely grateful for the favor 
which saved me a long, lonely tramp. The 
snow lay deep and glistening in the moon- 



AN ENFORCED VACATION 55 

light. The air was crisp, but not exces- 
sively cold. The world about and above 
was charming in its stillness. Every star 
seemed to be on duty and the moonbeams 
cut in sharpest outline the shadow of every 
object on the earth's crystal cover. The 
glimmering lights here and there from the 
cottages and farmhouses gave the only sug- 
gestion of life to the scene. 

I stopped on the top of a high hill, 
attracted by the deep blue shadow cast 
by my horse, and the beautiful light on 
her neck and flanks. I dismounted and 
by the long rein turned her round and 
round to study the tone and color, the 
light and shade for a picture, for I carried 
in my mind an impression of Landseer's 
"Challenge," which I resolved to paint dur- 
ing my enforced vacation. Just then the 
thought dawned upon me that the prompt- 
ness with which this gentle and pretty 
creature was put at my disposal was to 
get me out of town as quickly as possible. 
I felt no less grateful to the good doctor, 
nor did I doubt his most generous motives, 
but it set me thinking about the perils to 



56 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

which we may be exposed and the ease 
with which our unsuspecting spirits intrude 
upon our most affectionate friendships and 
turn our warmest welcomes to dread and 
fear. When I reached home the door 
was locked. The bright firelight flickered 
along the wall and ceiling as I looked 
through the window. I set out in quest 
of my mother and sister among the neigh- 
bors. I stepped in at the general loafing 
place of the village. As I entered, the 
whole crowd suddenly felt the need of 
fresh air and rushed out. I attempted to 
be familiar and again innocently blundered 
by proceeding to shake hands with old- 
time friends, but all the boys seemed offish 
and quite unnatural. One quaint fellow said, 
"Say, I guess we'd better shake hands with 
you with a stick." Then my stupid senses 
awakened to realize how unwelcome a vis- 
itor I was, even in my own home. 

For the prescribed nine days I lived in 
seclusion, suffering more from the fear of 
developing smallpox than when I was in 
the midst of the scourge. 

But what of the boys in the mountains? 




THE ORPHANS' RETREAT 

LIFE OF THE EXILES 

MANY years ago, in the rugged 
pass where Trough creek breaks 
through the mountains, had been 
built and operated a forge and sawmill. 
The forge was gone. The mill and sev- 
eral houses remained. In one of these 
houses the boys took up their temporary 
abode. An old cook-stove and a few'rude 
bunks, left by the woodmen, somewhat 
facilitated the matter of furnishing. They 
set to work at once to make tables and 

57 



58 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 




chairs. The tables were constructed of 
rough boards from the sawmill. The chairs 
were made from the boughs of sycamore 
trees, entwined by laurel 
and hickory branches, which 
made a rustic but artistic 
effect, and substantial and 
comfortable seats withal. 
Above the table was hung a 
pretty wreath of laurel and 
spruce. The walls were dec- 
orated with a looking-glass, 
cheap pictures and book 
shelves, and the whole interior was quite 
home -like and cozy. They lived in the 
upper story, probably from fear of wildcats, 
whose hideous cries were frequently heard 
across the creek and along the bluffs. 

In the stable was an old mule, "Pete," 
and several chickens. These were looked 
after once a week or oftener by the pro- 
prietor of the place. "Pete" must have 
been glad of near neighbors, for his rack 
was now regularly filled with hay and the 
chickens shared the fare of the occupants 
of the house. 



LIFE OF THE EXILES 



59 




Fortunately, the mail- carrier passed sev- 
eral times a week. This made life less 
monotonous and 
kept the boys in 
communication with 
the outside world. 
They cut a good 
supply of wood, and 
with the old mule 
and a dilapidated "pete" 

sled drew it to the door. When their little 
store ran low they started out to hunt pro- 
visions among the farmers down the river 
valley. Reports had preceded 
them and it was generally believed 
that they all had the smallpox. 
Women and children ran when 
they saw them coming and peeped 
at them through the crevices of 
partially open doors, or around 
the corners of the houses. The 
men warned them to keep at a 
safe distance and the dogs were 
not admonished to be friendly at 
all. It took some time to cultivate neigh- 
borly relations and dissipate the fear of 




60 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

the country folk. They were able to buy 
bread, milk, and other necessaries more 
readily as time went on, and life passed 
more smoothly thereafter. 

Regular hours of study were observed, 
and so, it may be said, this little upper 
room in the wilderness is the link that 
unites the broken chain in Juniata's his- 
tory. In the intervals of study and work 
the boys explored the wild romantic region 
round about. For nearly two months they 
were thus exiled. They sent out cheerful 
letters containing glowing descriptions of 
scenery according to the powers of appre- 
ciation of the writer for nature's wildness, 
and drew upon the sympathies of their 
friends at the same time by incidents and 
reflections, — pitiful, if not painful. 

One day they were surprised by a sled- 
ding party from town, which came with 
plenty of good things for the occasion 
and some to spare. It may be interesting 
to note that here came a youth betimes to 
spend nights with the boys. He was ac- 
quainted with all that rugged region and 
led them on to many an excursion up the 



LIFE OF THE EXILES 



61 



slippery glens and over the mountain tops. 
His father was owner of thousands of acres 
of this untamed country and many summer 
days he spent lumbering hereabouts. Prob- 




THE UPPER ROOM IN THE WILDERNESS 

ably, he here, too, caught the flavor of 
school life, for when the boys returned in 
the early spring there was one new student 
registered whose life from that time for- 
ward has been associated with the life of 
Juniata. We called him then "M. G.," but 



6z JUNIATA COLLEGE 

now everybody calls him "Dr. M. G." 

(Brumbaugh). 

Few tales of truer heroism in common 
life are recorded than that of these boys, 
hundreds of miles from home, going out 
before the dark hand of pestilence, choos- 
ing the solitude of the mountains for a 
refuge, waiting for the renewal of their 
work, and preserving a nucleus for the re- 
organization of a cause which to all the 
world seemed dead. 

Their names must not be forgotten;* 
their example will forever be an inspira- 
tion, and as the place where they lived 
has been, so may it continue to be the 
Mecca of all Juniata students. 

Who has not heard of the Forge? For 
a long time it was called "The Orphans' Re- 
treat," because the boys were members of 
that noted company, "The Seven Orphans" 
of The Club. 

*B. F. Bowser, Levi Stoner, Wm. Beery. 




RAYTOWN BRANCH OF JUNIATA RIVER 

THE FORGE COUNTRY 

WHEN the last smallpox sign dis- 
appeared "the refugees" returned 
and the school was reopened. By 
April first all the members of the faculty 
were at their posts. Many of the old stu- 
dents came back, and a surprisingly large 
number of new ones were enrolled. As if 
to make up for lost time, the school exhib- 
ited more than usual spirit. The faculty 
was strengthened by the addition of one 
new member, whose department was Latin 

63 



64 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



and Mathematics, but whose division was 
Botany. He was a genuine lover of nature, 
and he revealed to us in this field the hid- 
den beauties of this fruitful region. The 
influence of Professor Anderson is ever yet 
evident in the active interest of Juniata stu- 
dents in the study of nature in general and 
the study of plants in particular. 

The vigorous revival of the school after 
such an abrupt suspension was a matter of 
congratulation, and it was only natural that 
the boys who commanded so 
much of our sympathy in the 
interval should be heroes in our 
midst. We never tired of their 
stories of the lonely life they 
led in the mountains, and their 
descriptions of the wonderful 
scenery around the Forge were 
always listened to with keenest 
attention. So, as early as the 
weather permitted, we organ- 
ized an excursion to make sketches and 
verify the reports of the place. 

Through the kindness of friends we were 
permitted to ride from the little station 




THE FORGE COUNTRY 65 

across the country. There were more boys 
than mules, however, but we quickly accom- 
modated ourselves to the conditions, and a 
queer cavalcade it was that filed through 
the narrow passes and up the gorge that 
day. The way out was full of surprises. 
Every turn was a revelation of beauty, for 
we traveled not the length of the valleys, 
but transversely where the stream had sev- 
ered the ranges of hills, leaving towering 
forest-clad bluffs on either side. For a 
short distance we skirted the Raystown 
branch of the Juniata river, passing one 
of its most picturesque points. We were 
shown the place where a great battle with 
the Indians occurred, and the cliff at whose 
base the remains of many Red men were, 
not long before, found buried. The way 
the boys gave vent to their emotions might 
have led one to believe that the departed 
spirits of the dead braves had returned. 
We crossed the great wooden bridge under 
the shadow of a rugged range, then over 
a narrow bottom-land close by several farm- 
houses, and plunged at once into the depth 
of a primitive forest. Here grew most 



66 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



majestic hemlocks, whose boughs swept the 
roadside and arched with their dark green 
branches the winding way. Tall poplars 
and other soft woods shot up like arrows 
to the height of a hundred feet or more, 




THE WAY OUT 



as if in their struggle for existence to reach 
a breathing space above. Dense tangles of 
laurel, rhododendron, and low shrubs com- 
pletely hedged the lower side and hid from 
view the rushing mountain stream, except 
where the road swung out around some 
jutting cliff and was actually built up from 
the water's edge. We passed several vacant 



THE FORGE COUNTRY 67 

lots where stood the blackened remains of 
some human habitation, and soon reached 
the historic place. The old houses were 
there just as described. The old sawmill, 
the most picturesque figure in the land- 
scape, was still doing duty and was sup- 
plied with power from a queer log dam 
not far beyond. Here, in this sheltered 
cove, the pioneers of the great iron indus- 
try located a forge only because of the 
possibility of power, while the iron was 
brought from the furnaces some miles up 
the stream over roads even now almost im- 
passable. With the decline of the enter- 
prise the seal was set upon the place, and 
all that yet remained was slowly sinking 
into ruin and decay. We could easily appre- 
ciate the fortitude it took to quit the com- 
forts and associations of civilized life and, 
in the depth of winter, here take up an 
abode. One might well get the impression 
of being buried alive, in this wild solitude. 
The only outlook is upward and eastward, 
for here the mountains, towering to a height 
of two thousand feet or more, shut out the 
view, except where the creek breaks through 



68 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



and reveals " Round Top," a notable peak 
miles away. This peak was regarded by 
the boys as a sort of sacred mountain. 
Often capped by fog and mist, it caught 
the first light of the coming day and re- 
flected the last rays of the setting sun. 
During their long sojourn it was an object 
of their daily admiration and a prom- 
ise of brighter days to come. 

The pure blue of the sky — for one 
seemed to be looking from the deep 
casement of a window which shut off 
all surrounding objects — never seemed 
so blue before. The rich green of 
pine and hemlock that crowned and 
festooned hill and peak, and the merry 
rush and gurgle of the stream, whose 
course was one succession of cascades 
through the entire length of the gorge, 
appealed to nature-loving souls and 
compensated for the loss of human 
companionship. I could now under- 
stand why such cheerful 
fgGf^^fr- messages floated out from 
this romantic retreat when 
the boys were exiled here. 





LAUREL RUN 
Where speckled trout flit like sunbeams in the crystal pools 



70 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

To have us appreciate all the charms of 
the place our guide, one of the same boys, 
led us across the creek by the most uncer- 
tain footing. The current was swift and 
strong. The rocks were slippery and 
treacherous, but we bravely waded through 
when a misstep might have cost a life. At 
the foot of the highest peak we were shown 
the cave where ice is found in midsummer 
and from which a cool current of air con- 
stantly flows. The lichens and liverworts 
clung to the rocks in rich profusion, and, 
had we known it, a genuine arctic flora 
might have been found. A quick run up 
the stream brought us to ''Wild Cat" or 
''Abbott's Run," a rocky canon almost 
terrifying in its wildness. We followed 
"Laurel Run," where speckled trout flitted 
like sunbeams in the crystal pools, and re- 
turning crossed a spur of the ridge and 
entered a little cove, called ' r The Kettle/' 
from its peculiar shape as seen from the 
cliff beyond the creek. This had once 
been the favorite haunt of deer, and, even 
at this time they occasionally wandered 
hither, as the marks of the huntsmen indi- 



MMI 



THE FORGE COUNTRY 



7i 




cated. A rude ladder proved the treachery 
of man. Concealed amid the branches, he 
awaited his victim, which he had 
trained to come for the precious 
dole of salt hid snugly in holes 
bored in the base of a neighbor (// ^ 
ing tree. "Shame, shame," we said, ^%; 
as we hurried away. 

The report we brought back only inten- 
sified the interest in the place, and later 
an excursion was organized by students of 
the school for our first picnic at "The 
Forge." We spread our lunch for seventy 
that day at the old sawmill. Since that 
time many a pleasant outing has been held 
there, and few Juniata students feel their 
experience complete until they have seen 




72 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



the much-talked-of spot. To go once is 
but to desire the more to go again. In 
later years we usually charter a train and 
go twelve miles south to the little station 
of Marklesburg. The remainder of the 
journey, five miles, is made in farm wagons. 
The novelty of the mode of travel and the 
grandeur of the scenery animate the crowd ; 
and no days in all the history of life at 
Juniata bear more pleasant memories, or 
return health and cheerful spirit in larger 
measure, than these vacation days in the 
heart of the mountains. 







1 






r ?f*&4 < «i. r-. . "~ 


I Kr ■• 1 fBt' . XL 




1 ' ia **«*>-* 


— — — _____ — ; 



RETURNING FROM THE FORGE 




BEGINNING LIFE ON THE 
HILL 

THE dormant state of the educational 
enterprise, like the rest period in 
a good seed, only insured a more 
vigorous growth when conditions were once 
more favorable. 

The encouraging revival of the school 
gave a great impetus to the building pro- 
ject. Public -spirited citizens of the town 
generously donated a full square of ground 
in West Huntingdon. The contract for 
"Founders' Hall" was let and the work of 
construction was pushed rapidly forward. 
The building was not ready for occupancy 
until April, 1879, when we took possession, 
broke home ties with old associations and 
came to breathe purer air and command a 
brighter outlook from the hill. When the 

73 



7+ 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



first pick was struck for the foundation of 
this structure, in the whole area of the 
campus to be, stood one lone stunted 
walnut tree. The soil was so thin that not 
a spear of sward-grass grew therein. Insig- 
nificant mosses, 
lichens, and such 
plants as endure 
severe drought, 
gave a tinge of 
tawny green to 
the hilltop. When 
school opened in 
the new quarters, 
we were practi- 
cally in the mid- 
dle of a plowed 
founders hall field. Fences 

were not yet built nor walks laid out, and 
not a tree had been set. 

The students took a deep interest in im- 
proving the surroundings. Many planted 
trees at their own expense and during the 
weeks of the term carried water to insure 
their growth. The "Bucket Brigade" did 
good service in these days, and the barren 



M 



-^!1 111 

• •lift!* 3 3 1 |g| jj 

ilEEflHlJiEEiT 

JiJ.iJ.itE i J 



MJ 



BEGINNING LIFE ON THE HILL 75 

hill began to give promise of the delight- 
ful verdure that has crowned it in later 
years. 

Some one donated a few little red -maple 
trees after it was apparently too late to be 
worth the time required to plant them. One 
hot afternoon I set these with, my own hands 
in front of the tower and main building, 
and to my surprise every one of them 
grew. I have always felt a deep interest 
in this row of trees, as indicating what 
may be accomplished by care and patient 
training when conditions are unfavorable 
and the developing process has been long 
delayed. How like these trees are many 
of the noble girls and boys who have 
walked beneath their grateful shade! 

As an extra touch in the beautification 
of the landscape, one of the boys rigged 
up a fountain and supplied it with waste 
water from the pump. He built a rustic 
fence around the pool, and gave a great 
frog full possession of the place. For a 
time, rana seemed quite contented, but 
one night he hopped out and disappeared. 
Some of the fellows suggested that he 



7 6 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



should have stayed to grow up with the 
institution. During those early days the 
temptation may have come to others besides 
the frog to forsake the narrow confines of 
an infant institution for a wider field. 

One evening in our rambles through the 
woods we found a pretty little elm tree. 
We carried it home and planted it beside 
the frog pond. It took kindly to its new 
environments and flourished long after the 
fountain had ceased to flow. It now stands 
an object of tender affection opposite the 
corridor between Ladies' and Oneida Halls. 





COLLEGE CHAPEL 



EVENTFUL DAYS 



WE moved into the new building, 
pressing hard upon the carpenters, 
plasterers and painters. To help 
matters along, some of us who knew the 
use of tools quit the class-room some weeks 
before the moving day and turned carpen- 
ters to help complete the work on time. 
The transition from the crowded quarters 
below to the apparently spacious building 
towering above the town was keenly appre- 
ciated. Student life lost some of its free- 
dom, but gained through conformity to 
sterner rules and severer regulations. The 

77 



73 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

whole school community fell into a natural 
family life, and the foundation of success 
was laid in a genuine affection for the in- 
stitution and respect for the administration. 

The dedication was the first notable pub- 
lic event in our new home. The capacity 
of the chapel was measured that day. On 
the rostrum sat distinguished visitors and 
ministers of the town. It was an inspiring 
occasion to founders, friends, and students. 
The addresses were broadly educational, 
specifically historical, and deeply prophetic. 

Closely following the dedicatory exercises 
came the celebration of the third anniversary 
of the founding of the school. A special 
program was rendered, and enough inter- 
est was found even then in the few years 
of the life of the institution to justify some 
striking historical references and inspire 
eloquence in the orators of the occasion. 
Professor Zuck spoke with fervor and con- 
fidence. To him these three years had been 
full of trial and peculiar difficulty, and now, 
as he laid down the burden of a personal 
responsibility, to offer himself a servant of 
those who were charged with the duty of 



EVENTFUL DAYS 79 

administering, to the praise of God and the 
welfare of the world, a work so well begun, 
he seemed to have a presentiment of the 
end. In talking to me one day about the 
past and future of the educational move- 
ment, he remarked, "After all, probably the 
most satisfactory part of any work is its 
beginning." He frequently gave me hints 
that he regarded himself as a sort of 
"John the Baptist" — only preparing the 
way. Knowing him as intimately as I did, 
every remark was significant. I knew his 
sufferings as no one else knew them. To 
the world he was brave and courageous, 
but when alone he could not suppress the 
agony he endured and his struggles with 
his own emotions were often painful to wit- 
ness. To me it was no mystery that his 
hopes had not a wide horizon. The future 
seemed to be cut off by a shadowy veil 
that hung oppressively near him. To see 
his work firmly established, the school in 
its new home, was the limit of the first 
stage of his ambition, and he rested his 
spirit and awaited the coming of the inner 
light. 



THE SHADOW OF DEATH 

WHEN we came to occupy the new 
building, notwithstanding the pre- 
caution taken to dry the plaster- 
ing, there was much dampness in the walls. 
There was no general heating system. 
Large stoves stood in the ends of the 
halls, but these did not thoroughly warm 
the rooms. 

We insisted that Professor Zuck have a 
stove in his own apartment. He resolutely 
declined all extra attention on the ground 
that he would not have what the rest of 
us had not. We thought his feeble state 
of health demanded special care, and all 
were anxious to contribute to his comfort. 
I was no longer his "chum," but had gone 
to live in No. 24 on the hall above, so I 
was not conscious of his rapid decline. I 
saw him on the campus for the last time, 
painfully picking his way over the yet un- 
even surface. He was suffering from the 
injury to his hip, received in childhood, 
80 



THE SHADOW OF DEATH 81 

which now appeared to be affecting his 
spine. We attributed this almost complete 
break-down to the extra stairs we were com- 
pelled to climb in our new quarters; but 
our worst fears were realized when he 
contracted a severe cold, which quickly 
developed into pneumonia. For greater 
quiet and better care we tenderly carried 
him to the home of J. B. Brumbaugh, a 
few squares away. Anxiety now grew in- 
tense. For a few days he lingered in a 
hopeful state. Saturday night I watched 
by his bedside ; he rested well but was 
somewhat wakeful. I must have slumbered 
more than I knew, for he twitted me in the 
morning on the sound sleep I had seemed 
to enjoy. To some one he jocosely re- 
marked, referring to me, "He was a good 
boy and did not make me any trouble all 
night." His cheerfulness flattered our 
hopes, and I left him to take charge of 
the Sunday school. I gave an encourag- 
ing report to all who pressed me for an 
opinion. Before the conclusion of our 
class exercises, however, I was sent for. 
He was perspiring most profusely and 



82 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

wanted me to sponge him and change his 
flannels. I only then realized how exceed- 
ingly weak he was. Withal he insisted that 
as many as possible go to church. As 
soon as services were concluded we has- 
tened to his bedside. His condition was 
now alarming. The physicians exerted 
every energy and exhausted every art to 
carry him over the crisis. We all realized 
now that we were face to face with death. 
I sat holding his hand, when I noticed the 
unmistakable signs of dissolution; and 
quickly, almost stealthily, his spirit took 
its flight. He faded away like a passing 
shadow chased by the sunbeams of a 
brighter glory, and a dark pall of sorrow 
settled upon the school, the community, 
and the outside world, so far as his name 
and work was known. 

Jacob M. Zuck began life October 27, 
1846, and closed his earthly career Sunday, 
May 10, 1879. It is hard to imagine a 
greater calamity to any cause than the loss 
of its dominant spirit, yet from the ashes 
of such leaders have grown works greater 
than they ever planned or their fancy pic- 



THE SHADOW OF DEATH 83 

tured. Of some men it may be said, they 
accomplish more in their death than in their 
life, for they have given impulse to move- 
ments which the world will augment by 
force of love for the leader. 




THE PLACE OF MANY BAPTISMS 



THE MEMORIAL SERVICE 
AND AFTER 

THE body of the lamented Professor 
was brought back to rest for a day 
amid the scenes that he loved. His 
aged father and mother, the only near rel- 
atives present, mingled their tears with the 
throng who looked upon his pale face in 
the chapel for the last time before we 
carried him to the city of the . dead on the 
hill above the town. 

In the memorial service fitting tribute 
was paid to his unassuming Christian char- 
acter and sterling worth as teacher and 
man ; but the work he founded was des- 
tined to be his monument, and the tone 
of the addresses was that of hope rather 
than despair. As a text for the occasion, 
Elder James Quinter used the words, "The 
Lord will prepare a sacrifice." He said, 
"Some one will take up this work where 
Professor Zuck laid it down. The seed 

8 4 



THE MEMORIAL SERVICE 85 

sown in faith and watered with tears cannot 
fail of the harvest." 

In the beautiful twilight of the day on 
which we laid Professor Zuck away we 
gathered on the river bank to witness a 
baptismal scene. As we walked homeward 
my mother, who was then on a visit to us, 
said: "That boy (referring to a particular 
one of four) may some day fill Professor 
Zuck's place." The prophecy may have 
had little significance, but to the day of 
her death, fourteen years later, she clung 
to the presentiment, passing away only a 
short while before the same boy, M. G. 
Brumbaugh, was elected president of the 
institution. 

A special memorial service was held 
(June 12) under the auspices of the Eclec- 
tic Literary Society. At that meeting, Dr. 
A. B. Brumbaugh delivered an address ap- 
propriately setting forth the influence of 
the life of the man. He indulged some 
fancies on the future of the school, and 
among other things said: "The time will 
come when the influence of this school 
movement will be felt from the Atlantic 



86 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the 
Gulf." 

Some of us thought these utterances 
rather extravagant and felt that such a 
prophecy concerning so small an institu- 
tion was almost ridiculous. Right here I 
am forced to a confession. I happened to 
be in the editor's sanctum as he was pre- 
paring the copy of the address for the 
press. We concluded that the closing sen- 
tence, as quoted above, would be an injury 
to the cause at the time, and with sincere 
modesty we cut it out, not consulting the 
author. Later the office was accused of 
butchering manuscript. I kept "mum," and 
felt guilty time and again when the matter 
was referred to. At this late date, I beg 
pardon of my good friend, the Doctor, and 
rejoice that his prophecy has been so abun- 
dantly fulfilled in the long line of Juniata's 
sons and daughters scattered throughout 
the length and breadth of our own fair 
land, upon India's sands, and the islands 
of the sea. 

Prof. J. H. Brumbaugh became principal, 
and the first class in the normal English 



THE MEMORIAL SERVICE 



87 



course was graduated July 10, 1879. Dur- 
ing these sad and eventful days a deep 
seriousness of manner pervaded the school 
and a loyalty was evinced that was truly 
noble in the young 
men and women 
gathered here. 
Some of the boys 
will remember the 
little prayer meet- 
ings held down in 
the meadow under 
the great elm trees 
after the retiring 
bell had rung and 
the moon and the 
stars were silent 
witnesses of their 
assemblies. In ex- 
pression of esteem a popular subscription 
was taken up by the students for the pur- 
chase of a portrait of Professor Zuck. This 
picture has long hung on the parlor walls. 
What Professor Zuck may have accom- 




THE FIRST CLASS* 
(Normal Department) 



* Misses Phebe R. Norris, Linnie Bosserrr.an and Mr. Gaius M. Brur 
baugh. 



88 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

plished had life and strength been spared 
no one can foresee. But to take up the 
thread of his thought and develop the en- 
terprise which he had merely begun was 
no small task. 

However varied may have been the 
schemes of administration or uncertain at 
times the outcome appeared, there was a 
trust and reverence which always looked 
to the source of all wisdom for guidance, 
and laid the cause continually upon the 
altar. 




UNDER THE ELM 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF 
PROFESSOR ZUCK 

THE following extracts and notes of 
the address delivered on the third 
anniversary of the founding of the 
school were found among the papers of 
Professor Zuck after his death. The ad- 
dress was mainly extemporaneous and the 
topics for discussion as herein noted may 
be suggestive of his thought on the occa- 
sion. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends of Education, and 
Patrons of the Huntingdon Normal: 
Could I take you back to the centennial year 
and show you the Huntingdon Normal School 
as it existed, or rather came into existence, three 
years ago this April morning, you would certainly 
pardon me for saying that we, who have been 
laboring for the last three years to place this 
school on a permanent basis, have much to en- 
courage us as w T e meet here this afternoon to 
dedicate this new chapel and building to the 
glorious cause of general education, and espe- 



9 o JUNIATA COLLEGE 

cially to the better education of the young peo- 
ple of our own religious association. Those of 
you who know my connection with the school 
and what that connection has been from the 
first day until the present, in sunshine and shadow, 
through evil as well as good report, — those, I 
say, who know this, and know also what a con- 
flict there has been at times between hope and 
fear — will not think it strange that it should 
afford me no small degree of pleasure and satis- 
faction to welcome, in behalf of the school, the 
large and intelligent audience assembled on this 
occasion, and to congratulate the friends of the 
cause upon the many unmistakable evidences of 
the success that has, under the blessings of 
Providence, attended our humble efforts in the 
educational field. In view of our small begin- 
ning and past history it were more or less than 
human for us not to boast ourselves a little on 
an occasion like this, yet we would do it with 
becoming modesty, and even with godly fear and 
trembling, lest in our foolish, erring way we 
should honor the created more than the Creator. 
I have said that we see, or at least think we 
see, much to encourage every friend of the Breth- 
ren's Normal. Three years ago this morning the 
school was called to order in a little 12 x 16 
room in the Pilgrim building, corner of 14th 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 91 

and Washington streets, then the property of 
Messrs. H. B. and J. B. Brumbaugh, at whose 
invitation, in connection with that of Dr. A. B. 
Brumbaugh, who secured the first pupils and 
donated some equipments, I came here to start 
a school, hoping to open with at least fifteen 
or twenty pupils. Some of you need not be told 
that this reasonable expectation was not gratified. 
In those days we always avoided telling curious 
people how many students we had, but we have 
grown more communicative and now do not care 
to tell our friends in a confidential way that al- 
though the school was not large, it contained on 
the very first day at least one more student than 
anybody could count on his thumbs unless he 
should count one thumb twice. But we have 
something better to tell you, and something that 
cannot be said of all schools, — the school never 
got smaller than it was on the first day — not at 
least until the smallpox panic, and that wasn't 
our fault. When the scabby foe invaded this com- 
munity a little over a year ago our school was en- 
tirely broken up, and it was predicted by some that 
we would never revive, and the best that others 
could say for us was that if the school could survive 
such a shock it would no doubt live to a good old 
age. My thought in the matter was that if this 
is to be the test then the school will live. I had 



92 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

too much faith in the cause, and too much confi- 
dence in the loyalty of our Normal boys and girls, 
to think that anything short of a general slaughter 
of about all of us could kill the enterprise. In the 
Globe of January 30, 1878, our friend Tyhurst, 
after paying his last tribute of respect to the glass- 
works, asked in a semi -comic, doleful way, "And 
now where is the Normal School?" I was then 
down in Franklin county, an invalid unable to 
walk without two crutches and then only at the 
expense of severe pain, but I am glad to feel to- 
day that I had too much spunk to permit friend 
Tyhurst to bury the Normal in the same untimely 
grave into which he consigned the other enterprise 
alluded to, and I gave him a bit of information in 
this style : . . . 

What was said is not a matter of record, 
and the memory of no one is sufficiently 
clear to reproduce it. 

I am pleased to state that it was only about 
three weeks after the above appeared in print 
until we were able to fulfil our promise and show 
the citizens of Huntingdon that the Normal was 
not dead, and did not mean to die. Our Ohio 
boys returned from their hiding-place in the 
mountains, and several of the brave boys and 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 93 

girls returned from their homes, and Professor 
Brumbaugh and Miss Weakley reorganized the 
school on the 20th or 25th of February, and by 
the opening of the Spring session forty- seven 
students were ready to report the first week — 
before the term closed seventy less one had been 
enrolled. With the exception of this break in 
our work, the school has been steadily growing 
ever since its small, discouraging beginning. To 
demonstrate this more clearly, permit me to give 
you some facts and figures showing the atten- 
dance during successive corresponding terms, be- 
ginning with the Fall terms. 

1st yr. 2d yr. }d yr. 4th yr. 

Fall term 15 

Winter term 32 

Spring term 13 

Teachers' term 6 

Whole number of different students at end of 
first year, 29; second year, 117; third year, 214; 
up to date, 265. 

Only one absolute expulsion during the three 
years. 

Financial Statement 



2d yr. 


?d yr 


57 


60 


Smallpox 


55 


45 


69 


36 


23 





Income 


Expenses 


Loss 


Gain 


First term 


•••$53 95 


$81 80 


$27 85 




Second term. . . 


... 25 00 


22 66 




$2 34 


Third term.. . . 


... 65 94 


43 28 




22 66 


Fourth term . . . 


. . . 100 90 


49 15 




5i 75 



94 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Teachers 

First year Alone. 

Spring of '77. . . . Miss Weakley and pupil assistant. 

Teachers' term of '77. .Prof. J. H. Brumbaugh. 

Fall term of '77 Profs. D. Emmert and J. C. Ewing. 

Spring term of '78 Professor Anderson. 

Last term Prof. D. C. Flory and Wm. Beery. 

This term Professors Saylor and Cotton. 

Faculty at present consists of eight instructors, 
exclusive of our new instrumental music teacher. 

We remained in the Pilgrim building about a 
year, owing to the liberality of Bro. H. B. Brum- 
baugh, and as the rooms were given free of rent, 
or nearly so, we would have remained longer had 
not the accommodations proved utterly inadequate 
to meet the demands of the growing school. 
"We are too thick to thrive," said the students; 
and when the next new student came I told 
her that we were full — we were chuck full — 
and that she would have to wait until we could 
secure other quarters. I spoke of renting the 
Huntingdon Academy, a fine new building, which 
I was informed would be placed at my disposal 
if I wished it. The brethren, however, objected, 
on the ground that it would take the students 
too far down town. I yielded to their views, 
and then the only remaining expedient seemed 
to be to rent a large brick dwelling house (the 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 95 

Burchinell Building) , which stands about a square 
from the printing office, and which then hap- 
pened to be unoccupied and for rent. In this 
building our school has been quartered since Feb- 
ruary, 1877. By cramping, crowding, and econo- 
mizing space it will accommodate about sixty 
students, but not as they ought to be accommo- 
dated. Had we more room the students could 
be made more comfortable, we could teach larger 
classes, and everybody could feel better and do 
better work. Moreover, the building has already 
been filled almost to its utmost capacity, as last 
summer we enrolled about forty-five, and in the 
fall fifty-seven; and what we were to do with 
all who spoke of coming this next spring was a 
problem that I had not yet fully ciphered out, 
unless we could fasten some of them on hooks, 
hang them out of the windows, or perch them, 
like so many turtle-doves or tame pigeons, on 
the roof. I was still figuring away on this prob - 
lem when the smallpox broke out in town and 
we were compelled to suspend school. . . . 
I am confident that our present building would 
have been entirely too small for our school next 
term, had nothing come in the way, and I'm 
not sure but that it will be too small anyhow. 



96 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Following the above detailed statements 
in the manuscript are numerous notes and 
memoranda from which Professor Zuck 
expanded his extemporaneous address, viz.: 

Allude to students going and coming (small- 
pox) and to Mrs Kendig's death. 

Allude to the bravery of the fifty who returned 
so soon after the smallpox scare. Can any other 
school exhibit a prouder record? Spirit of teach- 
ers and pupils. Persevering efforts of Trustees. 
Design of the school. Aid from the town. 
Expression of thanks. Board of Trade. Liberal 
patronage and friendly press. 

Christian character of the school — healthy 
moral tone and spirit of labor — good feeling of 
the people of the town. Speak in behalf of 
Trustees. Who? 

Allude to help afforded a few weeks ago (re- 
fers to moving in which the students took an 
active part). How much superior to the spirit 
manifested in some richly endowed schools and 
colleges. 

When were the dark days and why? J. B. 
B. "Well, Jacob, if there is no hope at all I guess 
we must stop." Stop! No! We commenced 
this job as an experiment, and we must allow it 
time to be a fair test. What was told me — two 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 97 

or three years before any school of any conse- 
quence could be collected. Even so. But what 
are a few years. How friends and teachers 
looked at it. What one of my brothers said, 
"Don't invest anything." Only had a few hun- 
dred dollars, a few brains and an average amount 
of patience. No hope but a fair share of faith — 
faith and not sight the lamp by which I walked. 
Early history — our janitor, errand boy, hire- 
ling and oxteam (?). Know the ropes. 




SOME GOOD WORK 

iHE Sunday school transplanted 
from the little Chapel in the 
building where the school started 
began a vigorous growth on the 
hill. The students were active and earnest 
in all good work. A particularly destitute 
family was one day reported, and a few of 
their needs were suggested. The girls were 
eager to make clothing, and a committee of 
boys was sent to take necessary measure- 
ments of the children. The result was a fine 
lot of new clothing, which we were pained 
to see hopelessly ruined within a week. An 
Aid Society was organized which for several 
years did much valuable service in house 
to house visitation. 

The attic of the college building was 
strung with old clothing which the stu- 
dents were glad to donate, and during the 
winter season it was generously distributed. 
These zealous missionaries gathered in 
9 8 



SOME GOOD WORK 



99 



many painfully destitute and neglected 
children. It was no uncommon sight be- 
fore the opening service to see in the 
boiler-room a company undergoing a thor- 
ough cleansing of hands and faces, and in 
the summer time, of feet as well. Some 
of the same children came daily to the col- 
lege kitchen door 
for fragments of 
food from the 
table. The sys- 
tem seemed to 
develop a ten- 
dency to depen- 
dence, if not of 
genuine pauperism, so there came a pro- 
position to establish a "Home" for the 
care of the most needy ones. All sorts 
of schemes were in mind, even to getting 
possession of several abandoned houses 
below the hill and moving them to one 
corner of the campus. The formal step 
to effect an organization was taken at a 
mid-week prayer -meeting. At this meet- 
ing it was stated that there were " twenty 
cents" in hand and a promise of twenty- 




JUNIATA COLLEGE 




five dollars towards the work. A collec- 
tion was taken up and a committee ap- 
pointed to secure a house. 

The people of the town heard of the 
movement and came, voluntarily, to offer 

help, and thus 
"The Home for 
O r phan and 
Friendless Chil- 
dren," which 
stands across 
the street at the 
rear of the col- 
lege grounds, 
came into existence, and for twenty years 
has fulfilled its mission to the comfort and 
joy of hundreds of poor children. 

Shall I tell how we found the first ma- 
tron for the Home ? Well, she was a 
Juniata student. One day as I dismissed 
a particular class she lingered to tell me 
how hard the struggle was to prepare for 
a mission field, toward which she was look- 
ing, in South America. I encouraged her 
all I could and kept in mind her noble 
purpose. One day, as the movement to 



THE PRESENT HOME 



SOME GOOD WORK 101 

establish "The Home" was taking shape, I 
remembered her words and ventured to ask 
her if she would not like to be a "mission- 
ary" at home. I explained the plan, and 
she cheerfully accepted. Thus, under the 
most trying circumstances through the 
early stages of the development of the in- 
stitution, Miss Carrie Miller cared for the 
children until Professor Swigart, perceiving 
her good qualities, persuaded her to change 
her name and undertake the management 
of another home. Miss Miller was suc- 
ceeded as matron by Miss Howe, who 
afterwards graduated in the school and for 
a number of years was a member of the 
faculty. Mrs. Ressler, the helper of both, 
also at one time cook in the college, be- 
came matron and rounded out a continuous 
service of seventeen years. These facts are 
significant as showing the attitude of the 
students, teachers and friends of the col- 
lege toward practical works of benevolence 
and may serve to emphasize the duty of 
young people to be helpful to those who 
are in need, even while they seek to broaden 
their own intellectual outlook. 




FOUNDERS' AND LADIES' HALLS 

ENLARGING THE BORDERS 

THE regular routine of work was fol- 
lowed, each year adding a little to 
the reputation and patronage of the 
school until 1890, when a large addition was 
erected and Ladies' Hall increased the 
accommodations and made necessary other 
desirable improvements. 

The Business department found a home 
on the upper floor of this building and the 
Bible work was provided with a special 
room in the second story, while the office 
was moved over to No. 89 on the same 



ENLARGING THE BORDERS 103 

hall. A large room was set apart for the 
parlor and neatly furnished by the students. 
This much-appreciated luxury brought with 
it some problems in privileges — by whom 
to be used, when, how long, how often, 
where to get permission, how to keep the 
other fellows out, etc. Then a new ap- 
proach to the buildings was required, and 
the diagonal — that notable diagonal walk — 
was laid out and consecrated to the use of 
the ladies and the outside world. 

Another era of growth was entered upon. 
Students came beyond the limit of accom- 
modations. Everything was full even to 
the last room in the top of the tower. A 
new president, a new name, and another 
new building came in quick succession. 
The old charter was amended. The name 
"Brethren's Normal College" was set aside 
for the one all love better, "Juniata." The 
regular college course was definitely organ- 
ized, and while the Normal English course 
was regarded as essential to the general aim 
of the school, the way was opened for 
development along lines of higher learning. 

Students' Hall arose an object of beauty 



:o4 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



in the northwest area of the campus, pro- 
viding homes for twenty-five boys, six large 
class-rooms, the library, reading-room, and 
laboratories. While all this was going on 
outside, there was trouble within. The 
dining-room was becoming more and more 




STUDENTS' HALL 



crowded; even the opening of an annex — 
the old storeroom — did not relieve the con- 
gestion. The heating plant was entirely re- 
constructed. Two big boilers were placed 
for the whole system and the great stack 
lifted its head above the ridge line of 
Ladies' Hall and belched out dark volumes 
of smoke in a truly business-like way. 



ENLARGING THE BORDERS 



[os 



The foundation of Oneida Hall was laid 
late in the fall of 1897, and was under roof 
just as winter broke in good earnest at 
Christmas time. Pleasant rooms for ladies 
occupy the two upper floors of the building, 




ONEIDA HALL 



while the whole of the first story is taken 
up by the dining-room. The methods of 
cooking were revolutionized and a steam 
system was installed in the basement, where 
also are storerooms, laundry, and the 
dining-room of the helpers. 

Moving day came in the middle of the 



io6 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



middle week of the Spring term of i 
and a jolly crowd it was that sat down 
together at the first meal in the light and 
beautiful hall. It was like coming from a 
dark cave into the open light of day. The 
exuberance of spirits in the students could 










>. -, 



DINING HALL 



well be excused for the balance of the term. 
The contrast between 1224 Washington 
street and this delightful home and bounti- 
ful fare few can measure or fully appreciate. 
A striking fact about the material develop- 
ment of this college is that every step 
was taken under the most pressing demands 
to supply some particular need. Faith was 



ENLARGING THE BORDERS 107 

no small element in the whole movement, 
for foundations were laid, time and again, 
without a dollar toward the completion of 
the superstructures. 

Another most remarkable matter is that 
the original scheme of building was en- 
tirely departed from and each addition was 
erected upon its own specific plans; yet 
the whole forms a more complete and sat- 
isfactory arrangement than could have been 
foreseen or even hoped for upon the lim- 
ited area of the original campus. Surely 
there was hid in a shadow a guiding hand. 



THE FIRST EDUCATIONAL 
MOVEMENTS 

THAT was a forlorn hope which Pro- 
fessor Zuck led against the strong- 
hold of a long-established prejudice, 
when, with the little band of three students, 
he started a movement which, in twenty 
years, revolutionized the educational senti- 
ment of the people for whom he labored. 

For a hundred and fifty years the face of 
the church was set against "worldly wis- 
dom," until the hard lines seemed almost 
hopelessly fixed. The development of this 
feeling had a logical basis, and may serve 
as an illustration of the effect of tendencies 
long uninterrupted. The founders of the 
Brethren (or Tunker) church in Germany, 
or at least the society from which they 
sprang, were among the most learned and 
morally representative men in Europe. Per- 
secuted by ecclesiasticism, driven to 
America, they brought with them the spirit 
of progress, and at Germantown, Pa., planted 

108 



THE FIRST MOVEMENTS 109 

a community that represented the highest 
literary accomplishments of the colonies at 
that time. 

Here under the hand of that scholar and 
genius — Christopher Sower — and his im- 
mediate successor, the first Bible, in a Euro- 
pean tongue, was published in America. 
Here two -thirds of all the German books 
published in Pennsylvania for the period 
were printed, and from the same press, 
through religious journals, some of the best 
thought of the time went forth. Here also 
was organized the first Sunday school in the 
world — forty years before Robert Raikes. 
In this school were used the cards with 
Scripture texts which later came into uni- 
versal use. (A complete set of these cards 
is the possession of Juniata Library.) 

Persecution did not wholly cease upon 
their leaving Germany. In this country the 
clash of ideas went on in milder form. 
The little band now increased by many of 
the common people to whom they believed 
the gospel was especially sent, and, holding 
the educated clergy of the time in large 
measure responsible for their sufferings, 



no JUNIATA COLLEGE 

sought the solitude of the forest, and 
hewed out their homes and tilled the soil 
in ignorance of the world's turmoil. 

As the great tide of emigration swept 
across the continent, these plain people, 
still cherishing their sentiments against an 
educated ministry, moved out into the broad 
fertile valleys of Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. Their 
honesty, industry and frugality were a part of 
their creed. They interpreted the Scriptures 
in a very literal way, and won the respect 
of the communities in general by consistency 
with their profession. Bright intellects here 
and there appeared amongst them, and fre- 
quent agitations of educational movements 
occurred, but were quickly stifled, for the 
agricultural occupation of the people made 
no strong educational demands upon them. 

The society did not increase in its legiti- 
mate ratio. The children of later years, 
hungering for educational advantages and 
aspiring to a more intellectual life, sought 
these advantages where they could be found. 
And thus it has come to pass that some of 
the powers of other religious societies were 



THE FIRST MOVEMENTS in 

the gift of this, for the premium of training 
only. Others entered upon business and 
professional pursuits, and settling in towns 
and cities, which the body of this people 
studiously avoided as endangering their 
simple habits and traditions, made other 
alliances. So at the present day it is no 
uncommon thing to find in certain centers 
of population the most representative peo- 
ple who point back, and that with evident 
satisfaction, over the space of a few gener- 
ations to their " Tunker " ancestors. They 
can never quite outlive the healthy regard 
they were schooled to have for this plain, 
honest, but comparatively unlettered people. 
This loss to the church of its most 
promising youth became so marked in the 
last fifty years that most serious considera- 
tion was given to the subject by the most 
intelligent minds of the fraternity. A num- 
ber of movements were started, which prom- 
ised fair for a time, but from one cause or 
another failed. The first successful effort to 
establish an educational institution amongst 
this people is the one whose history I have 
attempted here to record. 



ii2 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Following the founding of the school 
at Huntingdon, came a movement on a 
larger scale at Ashland, Ohio, which made 
a fair start with excellent equipment, but 
failed from causes hard to explain. Later 
came Mt. Morris College, Mt. Morris, 111.; 
Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Va.; Mc- 
Pherson College, McPherson, Kan.; Lords- 
burg, Cal. ; North Manchester, Ind.; Platts- 
burg, Mo.; Daleville, Va. ; Union Bridge, 
Md., and Elizabethtown, Pa. 

All of these institutions, which have pro- 
gressed beyond the experimental stage, have 
proven successful. Many of the graduates 
rank high in scholarly attainments, and 
some have won distinguished recognition. 



THE MEN WHO MADE 
"JUNIATA" 




I 



N estimating the in- 
fluences which 
have counted for 
the success of Juni- 
ata College, so far as 
present attainments 
may be called suc- 
cessful, liberal credit 
must be given a few 
men whose thought 
conceived and whose 
energy b r ought 
about the test of this 
educational enter- 
prise. To go back 
to the very beginning of the movement 
which culminated in the establishment of 
the institution, it becomes necessary to note 
some significant facts which I have been 
permitted to glean from the diaries of El- 
der H. B. Brumbaugh. As early as 1870, 



ELDER H. B. BRUMBAUGH 



J 3 



H 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



H. B. and J. B. Brumbaugh began the 
publication of a weekly religious paper, 
The Pilgrim, at Marklesburg, Huntingdon 
county, Pa. H. R. Holsinger, some years 
previously, established a similar publication, 

The Christian Family 
Companion, at Ty- 
rone, Blair county, 
Pa. Both of these 
papers were advo- 
cates of higher ed- 
ucation for the fra- 
ternity(the Brethren 
or Dunkers) which 
they represented. 
March 4, 1871, a 
conference was held 
at Marklesburg be- 
tween the publishers 
of the two papers, 
and the propriety of establishing a school 
was discussed. A second meeting was held 
October 19 of the same year, at which were 
present, besides the publishers referred to, 
Elders George Hanawalt, John Spanogle and 
several others. Business so far progressed 




ELDER J. B. BRUMBAUGH 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 115 

at this meeting that a number of locations 
were suggested : Berlin, Somerset county, 
McVeytown, Mifflin county, Martinsburg 
and Tyrone, Blair county. The editors of 
the Pilgrim were so deeply interested in ed- 
ucational matters that they began at once 
to seek a location suitable both for the 
publishing interests and for a school. To 
this end they visited Mt. Union in 1872, 
later McVeytown and Martinsburg. At the 
earnest solicitation of Dr. A. B. Brumbaugh, 
who since 1866 has been a practicing physi- 
cian in the place, they were induced to con- 
sider the advantages of Huntingdon. So 
favorably was the senior member of the 
firm (H. B.) impressed by his study of the 
location that shortly afterward he had a 
dream in which he saw the school full- 
fledged and a large body of students 
marching down one of the main streets. 
When I came in 1877 we used to walk a 
square each morning from the house at 
1224 Washington street, to the little chapel 
in the Pilgrim building. I remember that 
H. B. modestly told me one day about 
this dream and how it seemed even then to 
have been fulfilled. 



n6 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



The Pilgrim building was erected in 1872, 
but the school was at that date a remote 
possibility. The printing establishment 
became at once a religious and intellectual 
center. A large room, intended for busi- 
ness, was fitted up as a chapel. I can 
recall the requests that appeared in the 




THE FIRST CHAPEL 



Pilgrim for aid in furnishing this room 
and the acknowledgment of generous do- 
nations which followed. It is probably 
out of respect to old and sacred associa- 
tions that Professor Saylor has preferred 
these same plain seats in Class-room D to 
the later and newer style. 

Various school enterprises were at that 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 117 

time under way, but their success was 
doubtful. It may be said of these men 
that they were not selfish as to the loca- 
tion of the school which should be the 
recognized institution of the fraternity, for 
they continually agitated the question, and 
attended conferences to that end without 
pressing Huntingdon as a possible site. 
When all efforts seemed fruitless and the 
general sentiment of 
the state district of 
the church relapsed 
into cold indifference 
or died in dread of 
the responsibilities 
attending such an 
enterprise, it was sug- 
gested that a begin- 
ning be made in a 
small way in one of 
the rooms of the 
printing office. This 

. . A. B. BRUMBAUGH, M.D. 

suggestion was made 

at an informal meeting at which H. B., 
J. B. and Dr. A. B. Brumbaugh were pres- 
ent. The proposition met with the unani- 




n8 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

mous approval of the little company, and 
they resolved to go forward. 

The first question was a suitable man to 
take charge of the work. For some time 
previous to this date J. B. had been in 
correspondence with Prof. J. M. Zuck in 
regard to a school and the general educa- 
tional movement. He was convinced that 
in Professor Zuck they had a man whose 
scholarly attainments would meet present 
requirements and whose energetic and de- 
termined spirit would win success if suc- 
cess were possible. With a brief announce- 
ment and with no bray of trumpets the 
work was quietly begun, and the result is 
manifest. 

Through all the years these men have 
labored unceasingly; giving of their time 
and means and receiving not a farthing for 
their services. 

Dr. A. B. Brumbaugh, in addition to 
much gratuitous professional service ren- 
dered to the students, has from the begin- 
ning lectured on health subjects and served 
as secretary of the Board of Trustees. 
J. B. Brumbaugh has spent much time in 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 119 



the field as solicitor for the school, and 
since the organization of the Bible depart- 
ment, has taught regularly therein. 

H. B. Brumbaugh has served as presi- 
dent of the Board 
of Trustees since its 
organization in 1878 
and as president of 
the college from the 
death of Elder 
Quinter, 1888, until 
the election of Dr. 
M. G. Brumbaugh, 
1894. He has also 
taught continuously 
in the Bible depart- 
ment. His cool 
judgment on all 
subjects has no 
doubt often averted ELDER JAMES winter 

disaster, and his faith in the ultimate suc- 
cess of the work has carried it over many 
a doubtful period. 

Upon the consolidation of the Pilgrim 
with the Primitive Christian (formerly the 
Christian Family Companion ) in the Fall of 




120 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

1876, Elder James Quinter removed with 
his family to Huntingdon and at once 
became heartily identified with the school 
work. About the beginning of the Civil 
War he himself had started in Ohio a simi- 
lar enterprise which bade fair for success, 
but failed through the general disturbance 
of the times. After the death of Professor 
Zuck Elder Quinter became president of 
the institution. His high standing in the 
church, his nobility of character and emi- 
nent qualities of mind and heart well fitted 
him for the position he was so unexpectedly 
called upon to fill. The influence of his 
life upon the students who came under his 
administration cannot be estimated. His 
fine physique, hair of snowy whiteness, 
noble cast of feature and saintly bearing 
made him a conspicuous figure everywhere. 
He died while uttering a prayer, in the 
presence of a great congregation, at the 
Annual Conference at North Manchester, 
Ind., May 19, 1888, and so came the second 
great loss of a great spirit in the cause of 
Christian education at large, and the build- 
ing of Juniata College in particular. 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 121 

Following this group of men, whose busi- 
ness interests lay entirely outside of the 
school, came another set, whose relation to 
it as teachers intensified their interest in 
this particular work. Upon them fell the 
responsibility of working out the problems 
of discipline and shaping the policy of the 
institution. With salaries too meager to 
mention, they turned aside from lucrative 
positions and devoted themselves to a cause 
whose future offered no substantial reward. 
In them was found the strange anomaly of 
teachers serving as trustees of the institu- 
tion that employed them, and as directors 
of its general affairs. The excuse for this 
condition was in the particular necessity for 
local representation in the administrative 
body, and the willingness to serve in this 
dual relation was but a proof of their gen- 
eral devotion to the cause. There were no 
personal ends to be served. Everything 
centered in the school. 

First, in this list of teachers, trustees and 
general administrators, is Prof. J. H. Brum- 
baugh, the oldest living member of the 
faculty in point of service. Upon the death 



122 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



of Professor Zuck, he became principal, and 
served in that capacity almost continuously 
until 1894. When it is remembered that 
these years covered the most critical period 
in the history of the educational work of 

the denomination, a 
period when the 
schools were on trial, 
when favorable senti- 
ment was unorgan- 
ized and criticism 
was ranging with 
loose rein, the diffi- 
culties of his position 
can be imagined. 
People will honor 
and, perchance, tip 
their hats to the full- 
grown man, if he 
show character ; they will fondle and caress 
the little child because it is weak and help- 
less and tender ; but who cares for the 
growing boy or the gawky youth? He is 
just stretching out in increasing proportions. 
He is growing, but has not attained sym- 
metry. He has the consciousness of his 




PROF. J. H. BRUMBAUGH 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 123 



own lack of prestige and cannot range him- 
self in the ranks of men, however strong he 
may feel. Prof. J. H. Brumbaugh's admin- 
istration covered this youthful period and 
ended at the point when the young institu- 
tion attained its majority, made its bow to 
the world, changed 
its name, enlarged 
its equipment and 
stood up to be 
counted as a college 
among the colleges. 

With the removal L 
of the school to the 
new building in the 
spring of 1879, came 
several additions to 
the faculty. Among 
these was Prof. Joseph E. Saylor, teacher of 
mathematics and an all-around scholar. He 
took so kindly and earnestly to the work 
that it was not long until it was felt that he 
was an essential part of the administration. 
He broke his term of service long enough 
to complete his classical course at Ursinus 
College. Since that time he has labored 




PROF. JOSEPH E. SAYLOR 



124 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

uninterruptedly. His devotion to duty, his 
conscientiousness in every matter of detail, 
and the thorough work of his department, 
gives him a standing among the students 
which he well deserves. He has long been 
secretary of the faculty, and since 1888 has 
been a member of the Board of Trustees. 
He stood the recognized head of the 
"Bachelor's Club," until August, 1900, 
when he fell under Cupid's dart and joined 
the honorable body of benedicts. 

Early in 1877 there came as clerk to the 
publishing house a young man, boyish in 
appearance and slight of figure. They said 
he was a preacher, but he didn't like to 
preach. Some time in the fall, after school 
opened, he arose timidly behind the little 
pulpit in the old Chapel. He preached. 
No one now remembers the text, but no 
one slept during that evening. Thence- 
forth all recognized him as a preacher in- 
deed. We were told of how he struggled 
for an education, and how as a little boy he 
led his blind father around the country 
selling pins and needles for daily bread. 
By and by there came a time when there 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 125 



was need of more help in the faculty and 
more moral strength in the administration. 
Then the Publishing Company, with its 
usual generosity, surrendered their clerk, 
and so W. J. Swigart was added to the 
faculty of the school. Of the work of 
Professor Swigart as preacher, teacher, trus- 
tee and treasurer of 
the institution, it is 
scarcely necessary to 
speak. To all stu- 
dents and interested 
friends it is well 
known. His life has 
been bound up in the 
life of the school, and 
of him, if of any one, 
it may be said, "He is 
wedded to the work." 
Prof. William Beery 
the sweet singer, was 
one of the boys who took refuge in the 
mountains during the smallpox scare. He 
taught music during his student days, and 
since his graduation, in 1882 (with some 
interruption in which he prepared more 




PROF. W. J. SWIGART 



126 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



fully for his profession), he has had charge 
of that department. 

Of the writer, it is not necessary to speak, 
except to note that he is next to the oldest 

member of the fac- 
ulty in point of ser- 
vice. He has acted 
as trustee since 1887. 
In 1883 he relin- 
quished his position 
as a teacher, and for 
the next ten years de- 
voted himself to the 
organization and ad- 
ministration of 
"Homes" for the 
care of poor chil- 
dren. Since 1893 his 
service has been uninterrupted. 

Last, but not least, as one of the younger 
men, came Martin G. Brumbaugh, a grad- 
uate of the English Department (class of 
1885), a teacher in the school for a brief 
period, county superintendent for six years, 
teacher again, then absent on leave for 
studyjn Harvard and University of Penn- 




PROF. WM. BEERY 



THE MEN WHO MADE JUNIATA 127 



|fc$ */ 



sylvania, elected President of Juniata Col- 
lege in 1894, Professor of Pedagogy in 
University of Pennsylvania, Commissioner 
of Education to Porto Rico, and contin- 
uously trustee of Juniata College since 
1890. What he has done to inspire the 
work, to broaden the outlook and to extend 
the scope and influ- 
ence of the school is 
unwritten history. 
Struggling up from 
the position of a poor 
boy in a country vil- 
lage to be recognized 
as one of the leading 
educators of the na- 
tion, he stands as a 
worthy example to 
aspiring youth. His 
interest in the school is attested by many 
especial gifts, the most noteworthy of which 
is the famous Cassel Library of 27,000 titles. 
Of all these men it may be truly said that 
they wrought with singleness of purpose. 
Their ideas did not always coincide, but 
there was always that deference for each 




iRUMBAUGH 



128 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

other's views which precluded factions, the 
bane of institutions. 

When it is considered that what Juniata 
now is, it has become without great endow- 
ments or gifts, but by the economical ad- 
ministration of its finances, and the early 
sacrifices of teachers and others, and that, 
in the erection of buildings and the ex- 
tension of grounds, a few of the trustees 
made themselves repeatedly liable for 
large amounts of money, the true spirit of 
the work may be better understood. In 
all this struggle, while human effort was 
taxed to its utmost, they trusted not alone 
to the arm of flesh. Over every doorway 
might truthfully be written, " Except the 
Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
that build it." 



TEACHERS OF THE EARLIER 
PERIOD 

IN addition to the men referred to as 
"Teacher Trustees" there were a num- 
ber of other men and women whose 
conscientious devotion to duty and earnest 
efforts to advance the interests of the school 
demand special recognition. A number of 
these were not members of the fraternity 
under whose auspices the institution is con- 
ducted. They succeeded one another as 
the demands of the school required, and 
with scarcely an exception, their interest in 
the work was of the most genuine sort. The 
limited means at command did not make 
the retention of many of these very capa- 
ble teachers possible, so as better positions 
were offered, the school could only relax 
its claims upon them and bid them God- 
speed in wider and more remunerative 
fields. 

As already noted, Miss Phoebe W. Weak- 
ley became the first assistant to Professor 
i 129 



i 3 o JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Zuck in the spring of 1877, and continued 
until the end of the school year, in June, 
1 88 1, when failing health compelled her to 
relinquish her beloved profession and seek 
restoration in complete rest. Her sympa- 
thetic nature did much to hold the interest 
and good will of the students during the 
trying period of the early struggle. 

Prof. A. S. M. Anderson was the boy- 
hood associate of Professor Zuck. They 
were reared on adjoining farms in a roman- 
tic section of Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
vania. As boys they attended the same 
country school, and were seat -mates and 
confidential friends. The very disability of 
Professor Zuck was an additional motive 
for the marked affection which Professor 
Anderson showed for him down to the day 
of his death, and the same unselfish spirit 
accounts for the hold the latter had upon 
the hearts of his pupils and associates. 
Professor Anderson remained identified 
with the school until the close of the Sum- 
mer term, 1879, when he entered upon the 
study of medicine. 

Prof. D. C. Flory, a graduate of the 



TEACHERS OF EARLIER PERIOD 131 




• rumbaugh 
Miss Weakley Zuck 



Emmert Anderson 

Ewing 



A FACULTY GROUP (1878) 

University of Virginia, was the first regu- 
lar teacher of Greek. His association with 
the school covered a period of two years, 
terminating in 1880. Later he became active 
in founding Bridgewater College, Bridge- 
water, Virginia, an institution that has had 



i 3 2 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

its vicissitudes, but in later years has en- 
joyed well -merited success. 

Prof. W. W. Cotton, a brilliant elocu- 
tionist and shorthand reporter, came with 
the opening of the Spring term, 1879, and 
continued through the next year. His 
versatility gave much life and spirit to 
the work of the literary societies, and to 
him we are indebted for the stenographic 
reports of many of Elder James Quinter's 
sermons delivered in the Chapel. 

Prof. J. E. Ockerman, of Ohio, a class- 
mate of Professor Zuck in the National 
Normal School of Lebanon, Ohio, was 
present at the dedicatory exercises and, 
while here, arranged with Professor Zuck 
for work in the school at a later period. 
The sudden death of the latter apparently 
frustrated all previous plans; but Professor 
Ockerman was in our midst for two years, 
— 1879-81. 

For a period of three years, beginning 
in 1880, we had the valued service of Prof. 
J. B. Kidder, in the teaching of ancient 
languages. Professor Kidder was a resi- 
dent of the town and was a good friend 



TEACHERS OF EARLIER PERIOD 133 

of the institution, frequently serving on 
examining boards when not regularly em- 
ployed in the school. He was a man of 
high attainments, and was revered by the 
students not only on account of his great 
age and intellectual qualities but because of 
his serene, yet forceful Christian character. 
At the opening of the school year 1880 
came a man of eminent qualifications, a 
graduate in two courses of the State Nor- 
mal School, Millersville, Pennsylvania, and 
later the principal of a western school of 
some prominence. I was attracted to him 
at once because he loved the mountains. 
From my room, the first night of his stay 
with us, we watched the moon rise over 
"Lion's Back," and when, later, I got out 
of bed and sketched the same glorious 
orb, sailing through a "mackerel sky," his 
sense of appreciation gave me the index 
to a character, which over twenty years 
of intimate acquaintance has not revised. 
Dr. L. S. Shimmell gave to the school two 
years of faithful service as teacher of varied 
subjects, and many years of consistent 
friendship and good will toward the work. 



134 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Prof. Joseph S. Taylor, youthful in ap- 
pearance, but equal to all demands, taught 
grammar and rhetoric during the year of 
1 880-8 1. A severe attack of rheumatism, 
I remember, deeply commended him to our 
sympathy during the winter, but with the 
coming of spring he was cheerful as the 
birds. He remained with us to close what 
was, up to that time, the most prosperous 
term of the school. 

Professors D. M. Long and M. Lee 
Huber divided the year 1881-82 in the de- 
partment of English. Both were graduates 
of the Miller sville State Normal School 
in advanced courses. About this time 
some one suggested that the Huntingdon 
Normal School was an '* annex'" to the in- 
stitution from which came so many of its 
teachers. Miller sville has no reason to be 
ashamed of any of the men she sent us to 
this or a later date. 

Prof. G. G. Lehmer presided over the 
department of penmanship and assisted in 
English branches for the same period. He 
continued a year longer and was not only 
an efficient teacher, but a mighty hunter 



TEACHERS OF EARLIER PERIOD 135 

as well. He was small of stature, but full 
of vivacity, and was a fit companion for the 
stalwart Huber on their trips for pheasants, 
rabbits, or wild turkeys by day or for coons 
at night. 

At the opening of school, 1883, I with- 
drew from the work as teacher for a period 
of ten years. My knowledge of a number 
of men who served during this time is 
limited and traditional. 

Prof. A. B. Price, of Ann Arbor, Michi- 
gan, was with us during the year 1883-4. 
He enjoyed a fine reputation among the 
students and is even yet remembered by 
those whose hearts he won by his consis- 
tent gentlemanly conduct and marked abil- 
ity as a scholar. 

At the same time came Prof. F. H. 
Green. They tell a little story about his 
being taken in hand as a student and the 
surprise and amazement that followed the 
revelation that he was a regularly engaged 
professor of literature and grammar. The 
boys soon found that he was "green" only 
in name and that he was a well -ripened and 
rounded scholar, in whom was no guile. 



136 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Professor Green remained in the position 
four years, when his alma mater, West 
Chester State Normal School, called him 
back and conferred upon him the honors 
of a leading position in her faculty. He 
is perennial in his love for Juniata, and 
through all these intervening years has fre- 
quently shed the radiance of his presence 
and the wealth of his knowledge of litera- 
ture upon the school. 

Professor Green was succeeded in the 
department of grammar and literature by 
Miss Sarah Kirk, of the same school, who, 
after an acceptable service of two years, 
was likewise recalled by her alma mater. 

From 1885 to 1893 the department of 
ancient languages was presided over suc- 
cessively by Profs. Elmer E. Wolfe, F. L. 
Whipple, F. G. Manson, Arthur T. Walker, 
and George Ellsler. 

Prof. W. E. Bowman, of Indiana, a grad- 
uate of Ann Arbor University, followed in 
the department of English. He remained 
two years, during which time he gave to 
the school faithful service and to the young 
men the noblest ideals of manhood. 



TEACHERS OF EARLIER PERIOD 137 

Miss Lizzie B. Howe, a graduate (1885) 
in the Normal English Course, became at 
once a member of the faculty and continued 
to the close of the year 1894. During these 
years Miss Howe was a strong factor in 
the development of the intellectual and 
moral life of the school. 

Miss Ida Pecht was the first regular 
teacher of music and held the position for 
a period of ten years. She was succeeded 
by Miss Irene Kurtz in 1892. 

In addition to these were a number of 
young people who taught at various times 
in the several departments, — Mrs. Cora A. 
Silverthorn (nee Brumbaugh), Misses Mary 
Quinter, Estella Michener, Ella Arnold, and 
Messrs. A. C. Weiand, C. H. Bucher, Jacob 
Gochenour, C. O. Beery, Frank Holsopple, 
W. C. Hanawalt, and J. C. Reiff. 

This period ends with a change of name 
from Brethren's Normal College to Juniata 
College, and covers a stage of material de- 
velopment to the time when two tall build- 
ings looked out over the tree -tops and 
the thirteenth class in the Normal English 
department was graduated. 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 

FOUNDED April 17, 1876, under the 
title of the Huntingdon Normal 
School and Collegiate Institute, the 
school was chartered November, 1878, as 
the Brethren's Normal College, with the 
following trustees : 

For three years, Elders James Quinter, 
H. B. Brumbaugh, D. F. Stouffer, J. F. 
Oiler, and Dr. A. B. Brumbaugh. 

For two years, Elders John Harley, W. 
J. Swigart, and Messrs. J. B. Brumbaugh, 
A. W. Mentzer, and J. W. Beachey. 

For one year, Elders Jacob Conner, 
Hiram Musselman, E. D. Kendig, Mr. 
D. F. Price and Dr. C. F. Oellig. 

In the limited space at my disposal it will 
be impossible to refer at any length to more 
than a few of the men and women who, 
through all these years, have served in the 
capacity of trustees. Many have passed 
away, and with others I did not enjoy a 
very close acquaintance, so that I may be 

138 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 



139 



able to speak but briefly even of those 
whom I know to have been most actively 
concerned in the administration of the 
work. 

One of the very earliest friends of the 
school was Elder Isaac Price, of Schuylkill, 
Pa., although on ac- 
count of age and 
infirmities he was 
never a trustee. In 
his youthful days he 
was an intimate as- 
sociate of Elder 
James Quinter, and 
throughout his life 
he was an earnest 
advocate of every- 
thing designed to 
promote the world's 
welfare. He early elder isaac price 

identified himself with the school movement 
as a friendly helper and adviser, and ap- 
peared in our midst for the last time, in 
May, 1879. His animation swept the audi- 
ence with enthusiasm when, in a neat speech, 
he presented to the school the large pulpit 




4o 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



Bible which still lies upon the Chapel desk 
bearing his name and the date of its pre- 
sentation. 

Elder Price was represented on the Board 
of Trustees for a number of years by his 

son, Benj. F. Price, 
who was devoted to 
the interests of the 
school, and contrib- 
uted liberally to its 
support. 

Two of the men 
in the above list of 
original trustees, 
Elders Jacob Oiler 
and D. F. Stouffer, 
enjoyed the distinc- 
tion of serving con- 
tinuously to the day 
of their death. Both 
were liberal patrons 
of the school and each in his own commun- 
ity represented the cause to the limit of his 
influence. Elder Oiler was a regular at- 
tendant on the sessions for special Bible 
study from their beginning, in 1891, to his 




ELDER J. F. OLLER 



Bi 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 141 



death, in 1898. The four weeks that he 
spent here each year mingling cheerily with 
the students endeared him to the hearts of 
all and make his memory precious. He 
is worthily succeeded by his son, Joseph F. 
Oiler, who has given many substantial to- 
kens of his interest in the work and perpet- 
uates the helpful influence of his lamented 
father. 

Elder D. F. Stouffer, prevented by busi- 
ness engagements from being frequently 
in our midst, was yet a tireless worker 
from the beginning. Our homes were in 
the same little village, and I well remember 
when he called on me in company with 
Professor Zuck, during our smallpox vaca- 
tion, and solicited my subscription to stock 
in the prospective institution. I urged the 
lack of means and proposed a half share. 
Then it was suggested that I make it a 
whole share in order to become eligible to 
the position of trustee, as necessity might 
indicate. They flattered my vanity to the 
extent that I yielded and took a whole 
share, paying one-half cash. For the other 
half I made two dozen study tables (work- 



1+2 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



ing on Saturdays and mornings and even- 
ings). These tables are yet doing good 
service in the boys' apartments in Foun- 
ders' Hall. By a recent action of the 
stockholders, Elder Stouffer is succeeded 
by his daughter, Miss Jennie, as trustee. 
Another of the original trustees was 
Elder John Harley, of 
Pottstown, Pa. He was 
an earnest and consis- 
tent friend and helper 
until he passed away in 
1895. Business engage- 
ments deterred him from 
meeting with the trustees 
in regular sessions, but his 
advice was always timely 
and his messages were 
such as to inspire courage and hopeful- 
ness. 

Elder Jacob Conner, also one of the 
original members, has served with but a 
slight break down to the present date. 
He has done much in many helpful ways 
to promote the interest of the school. His 
nephew, Prof. Joseph E. Saylor, has, in a 




ELDER D. F. STOUFFER 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 143 



sense, been his representative in the active 
administration of the work. 

Elder E. D. Kendig, whose wife was 
numbered among the smallpox victims, is 
likewise in the foregoing list of honorable 
names. It was only natural that so inti- 
mate a friend of the 
founder of the school 
and so earnest and de- 
voted a worker should 
have a place in the ad- 
ministrative body. His 
services covered a period 
of four years, and it has 
been a matter of regret 
that geographical location 
prohibits his further ser- 
vice in connection with 
the institution. He has, since the organi- 
zation of Bridgewater College, been active 
in its administration. 

The remaining members of the original 
Board, A. W. Mentzer, J. W. Beachey, 
B. F. Price, Dr. C. F. Oellig, and Elder 
Hiram Musselman, served for varying 
periods, and each in his own way was 




ELDER JOHN HARLEY 



H4 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

earnest in his advocacy of the cause. El- 
der Musselman, passing away only a year 
ago, left a liberal legacy to the institution. 
In the list of men and women who subse- 
quently served for a term of three years 
or longer appear the names of Elders Wil- 
liam Howe, James R. Lane, J. T. Myers, 
Frank Holsopple, and the following lay- 
men: Joseph Fitzwater, Edward Koenig- 
macher, S. J. Miller, S. P. Brumbaugh, 
D. Y. Swayne, John C. Reiff and Samuel 
Eby. Also, Misses Mary Grubb, Anna 
Bechtel, and Mrs. Amanda Buck, Belinda 
Stoner, Wealthy A. Burkholder and Mary 
S. Geiger. 

Elder William Howe was closely identi- 
fied with these interests; six of his children 
at different times attended the school, five 
of whom completed courses. Apart from 
the fact that he served as trustee for sev- 
eral terms, convenience of access brought 
him in close contact with the management. 
He was always a welcome visitor, and his 
fatherly counsels were well received by 
young and old alike. 

During the later years the school has 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 



H5 



enjoyed kind consideration at the hands 
of Mrs. Mary S. Geiger. Her visits dur- 
ing Bible sessions are always anticipated 
with pleasure. 

The distance of most of the non-resident 
trustees from the seat of the college pre- 
clude s their fre- 
quent attendance, 
but the assistance 
they afford in va- 
rious ways has been 
uniformly helpful to 
the local manage- 
ment. 

Besides the trus- 
tees there are a few 
other persons whose 
help merits recog- 
nition. Among 
these is Elder Lewis Kimmel, who was 
the principal of the Plum Creek Nor- 
mal School in the early seventies. When 
that enterprise was abandoned, he gener- 
ously donated the library to the new insti- 
tution at Huntingdon. This exhibited a 
most generous spirit, which was further 
j 




ELDER WILLIAM HOWE 



146 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

manifested by liberal cash contributions by 
himself and several near relatives. 

Another notable character is the histo- 
rian and antiquarian, Abram Cassel. From 
the very inception of the work his sym- 
pathies were enlisted. He was from his 
childhood a lover of books. He tells a 
quaint story of his early experience in the 
pursuit of knowledge. His father con- 
sidered it a religious duty to raise his son 
in ignorance, and so did not permit him 
to have a light to study by. This did not 
daunt the courage of the boy, for he would 
crawl out on the porch-roof at night and 
read by the friendly light of the moon. 
His love of books and knowledge led to 
the collection of many thousands of vol- 
umes, mostly religious and historical — some 
rare and valuable. This collection is now 
divided (by purchase) between Mt. Morris 
College and Juniata. 

This list might be lengthened by many 
worthy names. These may serve, however, 
to illustrate the spirit which has been so 
large a factor in the development of this 
educational enterprise to the present stage. 



j 



SOME FRIENDS AND HELPERS 



47 



As appropriately here as elsewhere, I 
may refer to the faithful service of John G. 
Keeny as steward and superintendent of 
grounds for a period of seventeen years. 

With the most 
unselfish interest, he 
performed his du- 
ties, having the wel- 
fare of the institu- 
tion always nearest 
his heart, and when 
he died January 18, 
1899, everybody 
thought of the fit- 
ness of the text, 
"Well done, thou 
good and faithful 
servant." "Papa" 
Keeny — as all called 
him — was ably sec- 
onded in his every effort by his worthy wife, 
"Mother" Keeny. Mrs. Keeny has been 
so long a part of the work that she feels 
more at home within these walls than any- 
where else. The students conspire to add 
pleasure to the peace of her declining years. 




JOHN G. KEENY 




OLD TENNIS COURT 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 

BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENTS 

THE amendment of the charter and 
the change of name in 1894 brought 
other changes and an enlarged out- 
look. The title Juniata, with the associa- 
tions of a beautiful valley and an historic 
river, was a magic word in the minds of 
the students. So it was not long until 
the muse and the musician had woven 
beautiful songs that fitly celebrated the 
praises of all. 

Under "Enlarging the Borders" I have 
148 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 



49 



briefly noted the improvements which came 
in quick succession. The complete group 
of buildings, Founders', Ladies', Students' 
and Oneida Halls, are even yet only the 
parts of an uncompleted plan which exists 
in the dark recesses of a few fertile minds. 
In the olden time, and even down to a 
very few years ago, the boys engaged in 
minor sports in the cross streets and played 
their greater games on the commons. One 
form of exercise was a run of a certain 
number of times around 
the square. The old 
trapeze, with its great 
iron rings and cross-bar, 
was the first step toward 
systematic athletics. 
Then followed the In- 
dian club and dumb-bell 
drills, first in the base- 
ment of Students' Hall, 
and later in the old dining-room. The pur- 
chase, a few years ago, of a full square of 
ground conveniently located at the foot of 
the hill, provided a beautiful athletic field 
of about three acres. A similar purchase of 




150 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

two half squares, one on the east and the 
other on the south, gave place for tennis 
courts and room for other lighter games. 
These provisions for exercise and amuse- 
ment have been beneficial to the students 
in every way. There is little tendency now 
to parade the streets and less to break 
over rules in rambles in forbidden ways. 

Enthusiasm once aroused takes account 
of no obstacle, so to fitly mark the com- 
pletion of the twenty-five years of progress 
the students inaugurated a movement for 
the erection of a building to serve the 
double purpose of auditorium and gym- 
nasium. They backed up their talk by 
liberal pledges and cash donations exceed- 
ing a thousand dollars. Some generous 
friends "chipped in"; one good soul of- 
fered to pay a tenth of the entire cost, 
and the trustees added a little to their 
financial responsibilities. So the gymnasium, 
under the most discouraging conditions of 
construction, is shaped for the notable oc- 
casion which fitly celebrates the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of the founding of the 
college. 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 151 

Again, in the early days the sick were 
cared for in their own apartments. The 
"chum" carried meals and administered 
medicines. A few years ago "the cottage" 
was erected at the rear of Ladies' Hall and 
a skilled nurse placed in charge. It was a 
little amusing to note how shy the students 




THE GYMNASIUM 



were of the little hospital. We were cau- 
tioned, too, not to say "hospital," but after 
a few had been down and found how de- 
lightfully quiet the place is and how com- 
fortable to rest in the neat white cots (not 
to mention the kind attentions of Mrs. 
Coble), there was no further trouble. The 
cottage has now become a refuge for all 
the afflicted. 



152 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

The library, set up at first in the corner 
of Professor Zuck's room, was for a long 
time chased around from place to place. 
For some years it rested in No. 56, the 
present office. Then, when Students' Hall 
was finished, the books stood in tall double- 
faced cases in the present reading-room. 
Later, Dr. M. G. and Elder H. B. Brum- 
baugh erected, at their own expense, the vault 
at the rear, and connected it with the read- 
ing-room by a narrow corridor. Strange, 
indeed, to recall the collection, which one 
could have hauled on one good-sized wheel- 
barrow, in contrast with the thousands of 
volumes now crowded into this vault, or 
arranged on extra shelving in other places. 
The laboratories and the museum led a 
precarious existence until they found homes 
in the basement under Students' Hall. 

The spirit of helpfulness, characteristic 
of the earliest efforts of Professor Zuck, 
has been evident through all the history 
of the institution — young men and young 
women have been encouraged to go on 
with their work, and when interest and char- 
acter justified it the trustees have taken 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 153 

financial risks, made liberal discounts, or 
extended the time of payment. In few in- 
stances has this confidence been misplaced. 

The generous disposition of the manage- 
ment and the self-reliance of the student 
are illustrated in the following incident: A 
young lady, who, in early childhood, suf- 
fered the entire loss of one hand and the 
serious maiming of the other, was gradu- 
ated. When she appeared at the office to 
settle her account she was informed that 
the trustees had voted her a liberal reduc- 
tion. To this she replied: "I appreciate 
the kindness, but cannot accept the offer. 
My mother told me before she died that I 
should depend upon myself, and I desire the 
pleasure of paying this bill in full." Hers 
is a worthy example to men and women 
with strong arms and healthy bodies. 

The most notable organization for the 
help of worthy young men and women is 
the "Alumni Association." This association 
was formed in the early days of the school, 
and year by year adds to its membership, 
increases its endowments, and enlarges the 
sphere of its beneficence. 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 

(CONTINUED) 

MEASURES AND MEN 

THE experimental stage passed, new 
responsibilities were to be met in 
providing additional courses and 
equipments. A commercial department 
was established in 1891, under the charge 
of Prof. George W. Snavely. This depart- 
ment has had a successful career and sent 
out many young men and women to do 
battle in the world of business. 

For some years post-graduate work was 
pursued by a number of young men and 
women of the Normal English course. This 
work was systematized under the ''scientific 
course," which only three definitely com- 
pleted — M. G. Brumbaugh, '85; I. Harvey 
Brumbaugh, '89, and Grace (Quinter) Hol- 
sopple '91. 

The regular classical course was not com- 
pleted by any one until 1897, wnen D. C. 
Reber was creditably graduated. Thus the 

154 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 155 

wider field was entered and a standard was 
set for future work along the lines of higher 
education. Juniata, on the merit of its work 
and the extent of its equipment, was now 
admitted to the "college council" of the 
state, and its graduates of the classical de- 
partment were admitted to post-graduate 
work in the University of Pennsylvania. 
Since the graduation of the lone member 
of the first class, it has been the pleasure 
of the institution to confer degrees upon 
graduates in the college department on 
every succeeding commencement to this 
quadri-centennial period. 

The special interest taken in Bible study 
from the very beginning of the school led 
to the establishment of a biblical depart- 
ment in 1897. Prof. Amos H. Haines, a 
graduate of Rutgers College, New Jersey, 
and later a graduate of the Theological De- 
partment of Yale University, was placed in 
charge. Associated with him are Elders 
H. B. and J. B. Brumbaugh and W. J. 
Swigart. This course fills a long -felt need 
and is inviting to the brightest minds of 
the institution. Thus it appears that at 



156 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

the end of twenty-five years the school in 
a modest way has realized in no small de- 
gree the high ideals of its devoted founder. 

The work of the men and women of this 
later period is present-day history. I tran- 
scend the limits of the reminiscent, how- 
ever, to make personal references for the 
benefit of the thousands of Juniata students 
who are scattered abroad. 

Immediately after his graduation, D. C. 
Reber was added to the faculty and re- 
mained until 1900, when he resigned his 
position to pursue post-graduate work in 
the University of the City of New York. 
D. C. set a good pace for all classical stu- 
dents who may follow him. 

C. C. Ellis was also a solitary member 
of the succeeding College class. He 
came to us a lad of about thirteen. He 
showed pluck from the start and graduated 
from the Normal English course before he 
was quite sixteen. When he went out to 
teach his first school the pupils and patrons 
smiled at his boyish appearance, but he 
had courage and might have felt, if he 
did not say it, "Let no man despise my 



t: * Z 
' , - • ■ 



***JP" 



Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh, 
President of the College (in Porto Ric 



A FACULTY GROUP (1901) 



Miss Nellie McVey 



Reading from left, first row — Miss Mary Bartholow, O. Perry Hoover, 
Elder H. B. Brumbaugh, I. Harvey Brumbaugh (acting President), Jacob H. 
Brumbaugh, Amos H. Haines, Miss Ruby B. Pixley. 

Second row — A. B. Brumbaugh, M.D., Jacob M. Blough, Elder J. B. 
Brumbaugh, Elder W. J. Swigart, Miss Bessie Rohrer, J. Allan Myers, 
George W. Snavely, Charles C. Ellis, Joseph E. Saylor. 

Third row — William Beery, Charles A. Hodges, D. Emmert. 



158 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

youth." He won public favor and is win- 
ning it still. Lack of means is no insur- 
mountable barrier to the young man who 
is determined to succeed. 

It is a good fortune for a young man 
to grow up under the influences which he 
may be called upon later in life to help 
perpetuate. As we used to go in and out 
at the old Chapel in the publishing house 
at 1400 Washington street, there frequently 
peeped at us around the corner a timid 
little boy whom we called "Harvey." He 
grew up serenely, a quiet and thoughtful 
youth, and when he came to mingle with 
the big boys on the hill the teacher of 
arithmetic had to stand him upon a chair 
that he might put his work in proper posi- 
tion on the blackboard. He made good 
use of his time, of course, for he was 
barely sixteen when he presented himself 
before that sedate body, the examining 
committee, and was recommended for grad- 
uation. Then for a year or two he was a 
"post" and finally he was announced as a 
graduate of the scientific course. There 
were no other courses to conquer on the 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 159 

hill, so he entered Haverford College, from 
which he graduated in 1892. He was still 
a slender youth when he was added to the 
faculty as teacher of Greek and Latin in the 
fall of 1892. After teaching a year or two 
he entered Harvard for advanced work, and 
graduated there in 1895. The same (Prof.) 
I. Harvey Brumbaugh has served as vice- 
president or acting president since 1897. 

Prof. J. A. Myers was another of the 
Normal boys who sifted himself out from 
the average lot of teachers and made him- 
self a reputation as the superintendent of 
schools in his native county (Mifflin) for 
six consecutive years. Then he came home 
to Juniata as teacher of various English 
branches. Later he pursued special study 
along scientific lines at the University of 
Pennsylvania. Afterwards he did a nota- 
ble thing — a thing never heard of in the 
botanical world before. In 1897 he slyly 
stole off to Ohio and found a "Violet" at 
Christmas time. He came back and built 
himself a beautiful home and settled down, 
with (Mrs.) Viola, right in the midst of 
the college community. 



160 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

Away back in the early eighties, in the roll 
of students is found the name of O. Perry 
Hoover. He came from Ohio — a vigor- 
ous boy. He had a tender place about 
his heart for those in need, and when the 
Orphans' Home grounds were being shaped 
up what did he do but have sent from his 
father's nurseries a fine lot of trees and 
grape-vines, to be planted for the pleas- 
ure of the children. The grape-vines are 
there still, and have delighted hundreds of 
unfortunate, but happy, little ones. The 
trees — well, the boys helped to plant them 
outside, and the cows — the hundred or 
more cows that ranged at will in those 
days on the commons — just devoured 
them. For years and years O. P., as we 
called him, buried himself amid books and 
struggled with Greek and every other hard 
problem he could lay hands upon in west- 
ern colleges and finally carried off" two 
parchments from DePauw University, 
Indiana. Then he went to Germany, but 
the sudden death of his father demanded 
his quick return to this country with his 
course incomplete and his ambition unful- 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 161 

filled. It was only natural that he should 
be called back to Juniata as teacher of 
Greek and philosophy. He found the 
mountains still here, and the old-time love 
for these beauties was quickly rekindled. 

Among the men who spent briefer 
periods with us was Noah J. Brumbaugh 
(Harvard). Besides being a fine scholar, 
he was noted for his admiration of a cer- 
tain "Rose," which fair flower he has later 
claimed as his own. 

Prof. S. B. Heckman succeeded Prof. 
N. J. Brumbaugh. The University of Penn- 
sylvania captured him as a special student 
in German, and of late he has acted as the 
private secretary of Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh 
in the island of Porto Rico. 

For three years Dr. G. W. A. Lyon 
rounded up the boys in Latin and Greek. 
He always stood up bravely for Yale in 
the midst of those teacher associates who 
decorated their rooms with the flag bear- 
ing a big "H" for Harvard. 

Prof. Fayette A. McKenzie presided over 
the department of German from 1 898-1900. 
He hailed from Lehigh University and, 



1 62 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

though slight of figure, he gave the boys 
splendid ideals in athletics. In morals, 
manners and scholarship he was every inch 
a man. 

Prof. Albert D. Hartley (University of 
Pennsylvania) helped us through the rush 
of a busy Spring term, and while here made 
numerous friends. 

In the fall of 1899 came Prof. C. A. 
Hodges, a lover of things beautiful in na- 
ture and art. He claims the University of 
Chicago as his alma mater. He turned 
aside slightly from the department of En- 
glish and literature to conduct the work in 
philosophy, history and political science, 
for each of which he seems to have special 
fondness. He loves the mountain surround- 
ings, is identified with the spirit of Juniata, 
is devoted to her interests and has faith in 
her future. 

It is notable that the department of Ger- 
man, so inauspiciously inaugurated under 
the "German Professor" in 1877, should at 
the end of twenty -five years be presided 
over by a woman. Miss Ruby B. Pixley, 
a graduate of Wooster University, Ohio, 



JUNIATA OF THE LATER DAY 163 

teaches German both by text and conver- 
sation. She also teaches French, and a 
glance at the bulletin board will indicate 
the popularity of these courses and the 
healthy tendency of the educational world 
toward the study of the modern languages. 

C. C. Johnson and Jacob M. Blough 
have both taught in the English depart- 
ment while pursuing higher work. 

Miss Bertha E. Fahrney presided over 
the shorthand and typewriting department 
from 1897-1900, when she changed her 
name and entered a wider field of Christian 
work. Her successor, Miss Mary E. Bar- 
tholow, knew the whole contents of this 
little book before it appeared in print, hav- 
ing labored with me in great patience over 
the manuscript in the odd moments which 
I caught up in its preparation. 

To round up the whole list, so far as my 
memory serves me, of all the names who 
have appeared in the faculty list from the 
very beginning, I may very fitly refer to 
Miss Nellie McVey, teacher of instrumen- 
tal music. She identified herself with the 
college in 1897. Her skill as a teacher 



164 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

and her love for her art arouse the en- 
thusiasm of her pupils. Her musical recitals 
are always events of much interest and 
pleasure to the students and appreciative 
friends in the town. 




THE GORGE — UP THE RIVER 

THE MOUNTAINS ROUND 
ABOUT 

IT is no reflection upon the imaginative 
or moral qualities of the ancients that 
they personified the mountains and 
made them the eternal dwelling places of 
the gods. Mountains have their mission 
to the inner spirit of man, as they have to 
the physical order of which they form a 
part. Forbidding in their rugged gran- 
deur, awe-inspiring as they clothe them- 
selves in mist and mingle with the skies, 
they bear a close acquaintance and reward 
the reverent approach of the true lover of 
165 



H 



1 66 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

nature by sights, sounds, and odors — and 
more, by lessons to his soul which no view 
from afar, however enrapturing, can afford. 
The great world-shaping forces that hewed 
out a channel for one of the most beau- 
tiful rivers of Pennsylvania wrought some 
of their most charming wonders in the 
region round about Huntingdon. To climb 
to the top of the tower of Founders' 
Hall and look out upon the landscape is 
to be amply rewarded for the toil. Here 
is one of the grandest cycloramas of 
mountain scenery to be found among the 
eastern systems. The valleys, walled in 
by high ramparts of forest-clad ranges, 
run in but two directions, north and south. 
They are narrow and dotted with farm- 
houses and variegated by cultivated fields 
and native woodland. They luxuriate in 
verdure in the springtime and don the rich- 
est tints of crimson and gold in the au- 
tumn. The river issues from a deep gorge 
a quarter of a mile to the west, is parted 
by "Cypress Island" (now the Reformatory 
gardens), sweeps in a crescent around the 
town, and is lost from sight under the 



THE MOUNTAINS ROUND ABOUT 167 

bold promontory of "Stone Creek Ridge," 
a mile or more below. "Crooked Creek," 
true to its name, winds as a silver thread 
through the meadows and joins the Juniata 
near where the latter disappears from view. 

But the mountains — we must count them 
one by one and know them by name to 
love them aright. Coming from the broad 
valleys of the east or the fertile plains of 
the west, it is not uncommon for students 
and others to feel at first embarrassed, if 
not depressed, by the narrow limits of 
their horizon. 

Over there across the meadow is a pe- 
culiar hill, "The Little Green Mountain," 
or "Lion's Back." The sun comes up im- 
mediately over it, varying according to 
season along its gently curving outlines. 
It does not take much of an imagination 
to trace in it the resemblance to the figure 
of a crouching lion. Until a few years ago 
the rich growth of native pine on the crest 
and the north slope gave a fitting sugges- 
tion of the mane of a most majestic "king 
of beasts." Then, sad to relate, the hill 
was shorn of its primitive covering and the 



68 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



long summer through supplied fuel to the 
brick-kilns at its base. There is still the 
figure of the same noble animal, but look- 
ing, now, like a poor beast long imprisoned 
and jaded by the presence of curious 
crowds of humanity, pining for his native 




"THE LIONS BACK 



haunts and the associations of congenial 
companions. A few straggling peach trees 
offer the only compensation for this sad 
desecration. 

The narrow valley to the north is 
bounded on the east by a series of "sugar- 
loaf" hills — if they may not be dignified by 



THE MOUNTAINS ROUND ABOUT 169 

the larger term, mountains. Here and there 
still towers a lone pine tree to tell how 
royal must have been their native covering. 
Just peering above these is a line of pure 
blue fading away into the misty distance; 
hills they are, called by the suggestive if 
not euphonious name "lick ridges." 

Warrior's Ridge cuts short our view of 
the valley about five miles away, where 
prominent peaks jut up and add pictur- 
esqueness to the landscape. Cultivated 
fields give a brilliant touch of color to the 
side and summit of this range. By gentle 
undulations the ridge skirts the north side 
of the valley until it is abruptly cut through 
by the Juniata river less than a quarter of 
a mile from the college buildings. Neigh- 
boring farms have crowded back the forest 
growth until the prim line of oak and pine 
almost justifies the fitness of the name, as 
the trees stand like full panoplied warriors 
bold against the ethereal blue. 

For seven miles the river winds its way 
through this broken region. Under jut- 
ting cliffs and frowning heights — now re- 
flecting like a mirror the beauty above it, 



i 7 o JUNIATA COLLEGE 

now dashing to feathery foam on the rocky 
rapids — here the old Oriskany sandstone 
rises by spires and pinnacles into strange 
fantastic shapes, and one can sit and con- 
template the wonderful geological story in 
the series of fossil remains it bears. One 
of the greatest of modern highways threads 
its way through the gorge. It has super- 
seded the old waterway, once the great 
thoroughfare to the west. Here passed the 
boats, freight -laden, which were later con- 
veyed in sections over the mountains, 
pinned together again on the other side 
and floated down the western slope of the 
Alleghanies to Pittsburg and the regions 
more remote. All that now remains of the 
once valued channel is marked by the white 
line where the water breaks over the ruins 
of the old dam beyond. From this cliff 
one looks down upon the top of tall pines 
and hemlocks, and out over the dismem- 
bered section of the same ridge to where 
Tussey's mountain stands like a battlement 
against the western sky. 

If one is disposed to indulge in reveries, 
here is a congenial spot; but this ground 



THE MOUNTAINS ROUND ABOUT 171 

is historic. Just opposite the most com- 
manding point is an old house on the 
farther side of the river; the smoke curl- 
ing up from its darkened chimney tells 
that it is tenanted still. On the same site, 




THE GORGE — DOWN THE RIVER 

or near it, if not a part of the same house, 
stood the famous "Cryder's Mill." Here 
great rafts were built, laden with flour 
ground from grain which men grew in the 
valleys beyond, scattering seed with one 
hand and holding the weapon of defense 
in the other. These rafts were floated down 
the long rivers, hundreds of miles, and 



172 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

across the bay to Baltimore, where the 
flour commanded fancy prices because of 
its coming from the then wild western 
frontier. The occupants of this same mill 
witnessed the wild flight of "Jane McGuire 
and the cow" with the Indians in hot pur- 
suit. 

The valley south is lost to view at a dis- 
tance of twenty miles or more. Tussey's 
Mountain runs like a bold wall along the 
western side; Piney Ridge is broken by 
peaks and promontories on the east. At 
the very mouth of this valley and on the 
river's high bank is the State Reformatory, 
with its strong walls and queer guard tow- 
ers. Its beautifully kept grounds and trim 
and well-cultivated farm are attractive fea- 
tures in the landscape. 

Just beyond the town, "Shelving Rocks" 
rise perpendicularly hundreds of feet. The 
strata are peculiarly and abruptly broken. 
The severed members come clearly to view 
at the end of Stone Creek Ridge on the 
opposite side of the river. Who can read 
the story of the ages so plainly written 
here? Well has a professor of Harvard 



THE MOUNTAINS ROUND ABOUT 173 

said, "Huntingdon lies in one of the most 
interesting geological areas of the Keystone 
state." Shelving Rocks recalls many pleas- 
ant rambles of Juniata students. What of 
the botanizing expeditions, when luncheon 
was spread in the mouth of the glen at 
the point of the ridge? Then the hard 
climb to its top, even from the rear of the 
cliffs, the charming outlook upon the town, 
and the grand panorama of hills and moun- 
tains to the west and north ; the shouts 
and songs from the summit, and later, the 
descent by the winding path, over trunks 
of fallen hemlocks and under the dark 
shadows of very giants of their race, still 
standing, where ferns and wild flowers lux- 
uriate. The botany classes have frequently 
reported fifty species gathered on a single 
afternoon and that without a serious effort 
to fill the herbarium at the expense of 
sociability. 

But the prince of all the mountains is 
"Old Terrace," plainly visible from the 
college campus on any clear day. At a 
distance it is always charming; near-by it 
is no less so. One July day we climbed 



i7+ JUNIATA COLLEGE 

this peak, forsaking by-paths and the rude 
roads of the woodmen and going up by a 
"bee-line" to the top. It seemed strange 
that ladies of the company should have 
been brave enough to climb, when climbing 
was possible only by aid of bushes and 
straggling vines. We sat upon the peak to 
witness a thunder-storm in the valley be- 
low, when a copper sheen overspread the 
landscape, and zigzag lightnings played 
beneath us. Then, when the sunlight fol- 
lowed the passing clouds, it was a reversal 
of the telescope, for "Juniata" and the 
town loomed up in their gorgeous moun- 
tain setting, five miles to the westward. 
We had made the ascent of the "father 
of the hills " and were satisfied. 

What we did, numerous companies of 
students and others have done, year by 
year, when autumn bespangles these crests 
with her richest tints, or when, in the early 
springtime, the beautiful trailing arbutus 
unveils its fair face to the balmy breezes. 




o -, 

£ o 




STANDING STONE 
From a Painting by John Chaplin 

HUNTINGDON 



THERE is enough in Indian legend 
and romance associated with the 
coming of the white man to the 
Juniata valley to furnish material for a 
fascinating volume. How beautiful must 
have been this land in its wildness ! One 
can but regret that he was not here to 
see the river before man polluted it; to 
see the mountains before commerce had 

176 



HUNTINGDON 177 

hewn down their sides and broken the 
gentle outline of their faces, and to view 
these hills, forest-clad, before the greed 
for gain left them in their baldness. 

If a nobler and more courageous race 
of red men dwelt here it was because the 
Creator had builded for them in this place 
a grander cathedral for their worship, and 
made sure their sustenance by providing 
haunts for wild beasts so congenial to them, 
and so inaccessible to man, that civilization 
to the present day has not wholly exter- 
minated them. Even now one need not 
go many miles to find deer — "Dia- 
mond Valley" and the "Barrens" are 
less than a day's journey — and, within 
my recollection, this timid creature has 
been tracked and killed almost within sight 
of the town. The bear still lingers, in the 
face of a relentless foe, and one often hears 
of encounters with "Bruin" right here in 
the heart of a populous area. Wild turkeys 
are still comparatively common, and the 
abundance of other small game suggests 
the probable extent of savage resources. 

Huntingdon was originally called "Stand- 




78 



JUNIATA COLLEGE 



ing Stone"; later the name was changed to 
"Huntingdon" in honor of Lady Hunting- 
don, of England, who gave money for mis- 
sionary work in this wild frontier region. 
When I came to the town somebody told 

me the name came 
from an Indian ex- 
pression signifying 
— "Hunting is 
done," sorrowfully 
uttered by the noble 
warriors as they 
saw the white men 
crowding into the valley and, bidding adieu 
to their much-loved soil, they passed to the 
shadowy side of the mountain. I was so 
impressed with the beauty of the surround- 
ings and the novelty of the name that I 
made a group of sketches of the town and 
a few neighboring scenes, surmounting the 
whole by a melancholy Indian and his in- 
quiring dog. When the drawings were ex- 
hibited to the public (1877) tne Y excited 
some comment and led me to the fact of 
the true origin of the word. I always re- 
gretted that the romance was taken out of 




HUNTINGDON 



79 



the name, but, perchance, the memory of a 
good woman is as well perpetuated thus. 

The original "Standing Stone," fourteen 
feet high and six inches square, bearing 
the records of their tribe, was carried off 
by the Oneida Indians when they left the 
valley. Another similar stone was set up 
in the same spot. A fragment of this 
stone now in Juniata College library was 
found some years ago in the walls of an 
old bake-oven. Plainly engraved upon it 
are the names of John and Charles Lukens 
(surveyors), Thomas Smith, and others less 
distinct, and dates from 1768 to 1770. 

All this — Indian associations and moun- 
tain surroundings — may have little to do 
in the making of a school. After these 
years, I can better understand why the 




A FRAGMENT OF STANDING STONE 



180 JUNIATA COLLEGE 

young man born and reared in the midst 
of this grandeur, facing every morning 
from his front door the craggy heights 
of Shelving Rocks and Piney Ridge and 
catching the first flashes of sunlight on 
the crested dome of Terrace Mountain, 
should have selected for his address at 
the first public commencement of the 
school, the subject: ' r Huntingdon as a 
Desirable Place for an Educational Insti- 
tution. 77 What he said I never knew, but 
what inspired his utterances I can easily 
discern. 

Hawthorne, in one of his matchless 
stories, describes a young man, who, year 
after year, looked upon ''The Great Stone 
Face" (hewn by the hand of nature in the 
rocky cliff of a great mountain gorge), 
until the high ideal he associated with tne 
image was realized in his own life. And 
it is true, character is insensibly molded 
and strengthened by physical surroundings. 
We cannot be too strongly impressed by 
primitive nature when delving for truth and 
struggling for mental development. 

No one can spend three years on the 



HUNTINGDON 181 

"Hill" and drink in the loveliness from 
every side of Juniata's walls and not be 
better and purer — a more sincere lover 
of the beautiful as God made it, and a 
more heroic helper in the moral uplift of 
man. And when I hear, as I often have 
heard, far away, people speak of the de- 
votion of "Juniata's students" I can tell 
them that it is not fine buildings nor ex- 
pensive equipment, not teachers more 
learned than hundreds of other schools 
have, but that it is the surroundings 
which temper the mind, and an influence 
not readily accounted for shapes the life 
and intensifies the interests. 



AN AFTER WORD 








UITE beyond the 
limits of all early 
expectation has this 
little narrative grown. 
The first chapters were 
written for the entertain- 
ment of a few friends 
and the instruction of my 
own children, during a 
long period of convalescence from fever. 
The appreciation and encouragement of 
these friends have multiplied pages and 
extended the scope of the story. And 
now that the work is done, sketchy and 
fragmentary as it must necessarily be, I 
can but commit it to the sympathetic con- 
sideration of those who know the cost and 
sacrifice involved in every philanthropic 
effort. The cause of Christian education 
is sufficient to commend to the good will 
of the world at large an enterprise devoted 
to that high purpose. It is hoped these 

182 



AN AFTER WORD 183 

efforts to preserve from oblivion a few 
facts and incidents of the history of Juni- 
ata College may not pass without apprecia- 
tion from those who have shared its bene- 
fits and aided in its upbuilding. 

Even now the growth of Juniata seems 
like a dream, and yet it is true ! Step by 
step, with the hopefulness of pioneer ef- 
fort, always, the struggle has not been 
without its pleasure nor the pain without 
its compensation. The visible results are 
only incidental to the nobility of character 
wrought out under these benign influences. 

Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., 
June 15, 1901. 



